Skip to Content

Deaf America’s Next Top Model star Nyle DiMarco performed an all-time freestyle with Peta Murgatroyd on the Dancing With the Stars finale

It was deemed the best in the history of the show.

Seriously, Carrie Ann Inaba said as much, and she’s got a long list of performances to draw from, going back 22 (!) seasons on ABC.

Incredibly, Nyle is in last place (albeit by just one point, and only two points out of first place) behind Paige Van Zant and Ginger Zee.

Not that he seemed too concerned after Monday.

Set to "The Sound of Silence" and dedicated to the deaf community, particularly deaf children, his freestyle earned a perfect 30 of 30.

Even that felt too low given its impact.

"I think we couldn’t have had a better night. Every week I’m able to bring my story out," DiMarco told the media later through an interpreter.

"The deaf community goes through a lot and [I was] really trying to explain how to raise a deaf child … I’m happy we were able to make it happen."

"There’s about 70 million deaf people in the world … only 2 percent have access to education and 75 percent of parents don’t sign to their deaf kids."

"I’m trying to get people to hear us out."

"The show has made me realize how I can impact other lives. It’s not really about me. It’s about the millions of deaf people that live."

"Tonight, my message is really personal." 

He’s already won in every important respect, but we’ll see if viewers reward him with the Mirror Ball trophy with their votes this evening.

Check out Nyle’s performance below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqVB638qHfI