The ‘Dancing with the Stars’ season sixteen results are final and the winners of the mirror ball trophy are celebrity competitor Kellie Pickler and her pro partner Derek Hough.
The country singer was in a virtual dead heat with Disney teen Zendaya Coleman after each contestant was awarded a perfect score for their Instant Dance.
When all of the performance scores from the two-night competition were factored with viewer votes, it was the former ‘Idol’ alum who picked up the title and bragging rights.
Kellie seemed genuinely surprised as she exclaimed, “Oh my God! This is amazing! Oh my God!”
Coleman, 16, proved to be unusually poised and mature. She remained gracious in defeat, “I’m very proud. I’m very happy and I get to leave here with an amazing experience, so I’m very happy.”
Finishing third was Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones. He joked, “Out of all the training that I’ve had, I’ve never had a woman push me like she did,” referring to his pro partner Karina Smirnoff.
It was Hough’s fourth championship. His previous winning partners were Brooke Burke, Nicole Scherzinger and Jennifer Grey.
Last season he and his heavily-favored Olympic gymnast partner Shawn Johnson took a big gamble by pushing the rules to the limit during the finale and ended up in second place after judge Len Goodman gave their performance a low score.
Stung by the 11th hour implosion, Derek seriously considered not returning for season sixteen. He revealed Monday night that he had a hunch about partnering with Kellie Pickler. The rest, as they say …. is history.
Check out their win on video below:
Photos: Twitter-DWTS