Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Dancing With The Stars Season 33 finale. Stream it now with a Disney+ subscription.
It’s been a long season with fierce competition from start to finish, and it all led to a Dancing With The Stars finale where it truly felt like anything could happen. The end result was somehow still a surprise, though, and judging from the reactions online, I think viewers would sooner look ahead to the 2025 TV schedule than dwell on its winner, Joey Graziadei, any longer.
The Bachelor star and his pro partner Jenna Johnson are the winners of DWTS Season 33, with Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten coming in second place and Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong finishing in third. As someone who thought the runners-up had this win in the bag the moment I saw their final rehearsals, here’s what I think happened.
Why I Think Joey Graziadei Won Over Chandler Kinney And Ilona Maher
Chandler Kinney spent almost the entirety of the season at the top of the leaderboard, and while I know her dance partner Brandon Armstrong wasn’t losing sleep about the competition, they deserved better than a third-place finish. I also keep thinking about the various times Ilona Maher went viral this season for her TikTok fails or her Encanto performance, and I don’t get how she ended up losing to Joey Graziadei.
My theory, which I have no way of proving, is that the fanbase was split between voting for Ilona and Chandler for the win. Given that both women had stellar finale nights with performances that highlighted empowerment, I could see there being a situation where either might’ve won the lion’s share of votes had they not both been so terrific. Meanwhile, Joey Graziadei was far higher on the leaderboard during the season and was further removed from his male counterparts in the standings, which could’ve allowed him to get the win on finale night.
Did Joey Graziadei Deserve To Win?
There’s a lot of chatter online questioning whether Joey Graziadei deserved to win Dancing With The Stars. While I’ll concede that I have a bias against rooting for Bachelor stars on the show because of the advantage they seem to have from being on ABC previously, I can’t say it’s entirely unjustified.
While he might not have had as many viral moments as his competitors, there was rarely a point in Dancing With The Stars Season 33 where Joey Graziadei was below second place on the leaderboard. I guess it’s only natural he would eventually rise to the top when it matters most, even if his finale dances were far less memorable than the other contestants. If he can somehow get Ilona Maher on The Bachelorette, I’ll get over his victory pretty quickly.
That’s it for another season with Dancing With The Stars! Those looking to revisit the season can do so over on Disney+. Those who would sooner forget needn’t fear, as I’d wager we’ll have another season next year to get excited and worked up about all over again.