Every season of Dancing With the Stars, the celebs seem to sparkle brighter and the competition gets even more fierce. From television stars to gold medal-winning Olympians, the mirrorball trophy can be won by anyone with enough work and perseverance.
Before Kaitlyn Bristowe won season 29 with partner Artem Chigvintsev, Hannah Brown was the first Bachelorette star to take home the mirror ball trophy with pro Alan Bersten just one year prior during season 28 in 2019.
What was Hannah and Alan’s secret that drove them to victory? The Bachelor Nation babe revealed to Life & Style the key to her and Alan’s chemistry, which helped them build a strong bond on and off the dance floor.
“I think it’s because we’re honest with each other,” Hannah explained at the DWTS Top 6 Finalist Party at Dominique Ansel in November 2019. “If we don’t like something that one of us says, we just squash it right away. We just move forward. We have grown. I’ll be like ‘I don’t like when you say that.’ He’s like, ‘OK, you gotta stop doing that.’ I’m like, all right.”
Alan confirmed the sentiment when speaking exclusively with Life & Style in January 2020. He explained that she counted on him during the competition and opened up to him about her drama-filled appearance on Peter Weber‘s season of The Bachelor.
“She confided in me, and it really helped build our relationship, in a way. We built trust and we could really count on each other to get through these kinds of things … It was great,” he said. “We really connected from that, and we were able to use that in the dancing.”
Although fans were begging for the pair to date, their relationship stayed platonic. However, it proved enough to win the mirrorball trophy. She even cheered on Alan and his next partner, Disney star Skai Jackson.
Season 29, which premiered in September 2020, brought some seriously talented celebs to the dance floor, including Catfish creator Nev Schulman, figure skater Johnny Weier, former Backstreet Boys singer AJ McLean, Cheer coach Monica Aldama and more. However, only one star could reign supreme.
Season 30 proved to be just as exciting as the past 29, with stars like The Talk host Amanda Kloots and YouTuber JoJo Siwa, who made history with pro Jenna Johnson as first same-sex dancing duo.
The competition has been stiff over the years. Keep scrolling to look back at all the previous winners from DWTS!