Spoilers ahead for the Season 32 finale of Dancing with the Stars.
The fall 2023 TV schedule marked the return of Dancing with the Stars to ABC after exclusively streaming for Disney+ subscribers the previous season, but Season 32 still had to deal with the sad news of longtime judge Len Goodman's death at the age of 78. Luckily, the show found a great way to pay tribute to him via the newly-named Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, which has officially been awarded to the winning celebrity: the 17-year-old Xochitl "Little Marvelette" Gomez with partner Val Chmerkovskiy! I already can't get over what she told CinemaBlend about the season.
The Season 32 finale was down to five remaining stars: Xochitl Gomez, Jason Mraz (runner up), Ariana Madix (came in third), Charity Lawson (came in fourth), and Alyson Hannigan, who came in fifth on finale night but achieved her goal of making it to Taylor Swift Night. Gomez won after two dances with her partner: a foxtrot to Katy Perry's "Unconditionally" and a freestyle to District 78's "Que Calor." Her win wasn't a huge shock after a pair of perfect scores in the semifinals, but Mraz – who originally had low expectations for DWTS – gave her a run for her money.
And watching Gomez earn the first-ever Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy took me back to our conversation earlier in the fall, shortly before she rocked a Gwen Stefani-inspired look for a salsa. At the time of our interview in October, only the Season 32 premiere had aired on ABC and streamed on Disney+. Xochitl Gomez had been the very first star to perform on the very first night of the season, with no way of knowing at the time that she'd be the last star standing. When I asked about her reaction to going first on premiere night, the future champion said:
Oh, I'm so glad I went first. I think it was actually really fun just because just once you're out there, you're out there. Being able to be out there for the intros and stuff, I was like, 'Oh, good.' I know the energy. Everyone's excited. I don't have to go out and wait. I think probably the hardest part of it is sitting out there and waiting and watching everyone else dance, and then your legs get all frozen and stiff, and then you have to go out there and dance. That's pretty hard. But I really enjoyed going first, and when I found out I was going first, I was like, 'Oh my gosh! Okay! Great.'
Whether or not Xochitl Gomez still thinks of sitting, waiting, and watching as "probably the hardest part" of Dancing with the Stars remains to be seen, but she put a lot of work and even overcame a fear in her journey to becoming the first winner of the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy. Her win also makes her one of the youngest DWTS champions in the history of the show at just 17, although Laurie Hernandez still holds the record at just 16 during Season 23.
If you want to revisit Xochitl Gomez's very first performance from the Season 32 premiere or any of those that followed, you can find the full season streaming with a Disney+ subscription now. Alternately, you can revisit the highs and lows of the latest season with a Hulu subscription as the 2024 TV season approaches.
