Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Andrew Eccles/Disney
There’s officially a winner for the 34th season of Dancing With The Stars: Robert Irwin and Witney Carson. Despite a rib injury that plagued Irwin throughout his last week of rehearsal, the two won enough of the judges’ scores and the fan votes to earn a Len Goodman Mirrorball trophy. DWTS host Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough shared just before the reveal that both Irwin and runner-up Alix Earle received more votes individually than any other DWTS contestant, and both had one of the tightest voting gaps ever on the show. “My sister said it best: Thank you for changing my life,” Irwin tearfully said as he accepted his trophy. This is Carson’s second Mirrorball win; her first win was with Ribeiro in 2014.
Irwin is now the second member of his family to take home the mirrorball trophy, ten years after his sister Bindi Irwin won in 2015. As for what’s next for Robert? He’s co-hosting the Australian version of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! for his next reality gig. Maybe if he’s still looking for love in the next few years, he could become the next Bachelor; he wouldn’t be the first reality star to do so. But Robert does love working in front of the camera and wants to make the transition to more acting projects, as long as it can help bring awareness to wildlife. He’s voicing a koala named Robert Furwin in Zootopia 2 and told the New York Times that becoming an action star would be “an absolute dream.” But his heart will always be with wildlife and with khaki shorts.
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