As the finale for season 31 of “Dancing with the Stars” approaches this Monday night on Disney+, the last four celebrities in the competition who are gunning for the coveted Mirror Ball trophy are Wayne Brady, Charli D’Amelio, Shangela, and Gabby Windey. Each of them have proven to be a force to be reckoned with in the ballroom throughout these past nine weeks. There’s a case to be made for any one of them to come out on top. However, the one who I think we should really keep an eye out for is Windey.
Throughout the show’s long history, four “Bachelorette” stars have competed for the Mirror Ball trophy. So far two of them have won. In 2019 Hannah Brown managed to prevail in a finale that also included Lauren Alaina (fourth place), Ally Brooke (third place), and Kel Mitchell (runner-up). Then in 2020 Kaitlyn Bristowe won in a finale that also featured Justina Machado (fourth place), Nelly (third place), and Nev Schulman (runner-up).
As of now, Trista Sutter is the only one who lost as she was the first to be eliminated in the very first season back in 2005. But if Windey prevails, she would be the third “Bachelorette” star to win the competition in just the last four years. According to the combined predictions of “DWTS” fans as of this writing, though, she is in fourth place with 13/1 odds. Ahead of her are Brady (17/2), Shangela (16/5), and D’Amelio (18/25).
Throughout this season Val Chmerkovskiy has been Windey’s professional partner. He previously competed in 17 prior seasons of “Dancing with the Stars.” He has so far managed to win the competition twice, first with Rumer Willis in 2015 and then with Laurie Hernandez the following year, so we know he’s capable of getting a star to the finish line.
Not to mention that there have been five other instances where Chmerkovskiy made it to the finale. He finished in third place with Kelly Monaco in 2012, Janel Parrish in 2014, Ginger Zee in 2016, and Normani Kordei in 2017. And in 2013 he and his partner Zendaya, were the runners-up to Kellie Pickler and Derek Hough.
One thing that Windey does have in her favor is that she is one of three celebrities left in the competition who successfully avoided the bottom two/three every week. The others are Brady and D’Amelio. Shangela was in the bottom three this past week, but the judges luckily voted to save her from elimination over Daniel Durant. As we’ve seen in recent seasons, those who’ve consistently escaped the bottom two/three throughout a season tend to be the strongest contenders for the Mirror Ball Trophy. So might we be underestimating Windey and her “Bachelor Nation” fan base?
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