From winning the Mirror Ball Trophy to winning Emmys, we count down the top 10 ‘Dancing with the Stars’ pro dancers in history.
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15. Edyta Sliwinska
Image Credit: Broadimage/Shutterstock One of the early breakout stars on the show, she competed in the first 10 seasons in a row, making the finals with Joey Lawrence (third in season three) and Jason Taylor (second in season six). Her later seasons on the show weren’t as successful, though, and when she returned in season 22 after a 12 season absence, she and Geraldo Rivera were the first team eliminated. But that doesn’t detract from her cumulative achievements on the show.
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14. Emma Slater
Image Credit: ABC In her 11 seasons on the show she only made the finals once, but she made it count, winning season 24 with Rashad Jennings. And not for nothing, we think she was robbed in season 28 when she and James Van Der Beek were eliminated in fifth place just before the finals.
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13. Lindsay Arnold
Image Credit: ABC She has had the magic touch on the show, making the finals four times and winning season 25 with Jordan Fisher. Even when she was saddled with political washout Sean Spicer she managed to get him all the way to sixth place, though we’re not sure if we should thank her or blame her for that.
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12. Karina Smirnoff
Image Credit: MediaPunch/REX/Shutterstock Karina Smirnoff has competed in 18 seasons. She was a finalist five times, winning in season 13 with J.R. Martinez.
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11. Peta Murgatroyd
Image Credit: ABC Peta Murgatroyd only made the ‘Dancing with the Stars’ finals twice, but she won the Mirror Ball Trophy both times: in season 14 (Donald Driver) and season 22 (Nyle DiMarco, pictured with Murgatroyd).
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10. Kym Johnson
Image Credit: Jim Smeal/BEI/Shutterstock Kym Johnson was a finalist six times and won in season nine (Donny Osmond) and season 12 (Hines Ward). She’s so good she even won the heart of her season 20 celeb partner Robert Herjavek, whom she married in 2016.
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9. Tony Dovolani
Image Credit: Mjt/Admedia/Sipa/Shutterstock One of the most prominent pros in the show’s history, he has competed in 21 seasons of the dance competition. Of those seasons, he only made the finals three times, but he won the season 15 all-stars edition with Melissa Rycroft, which was especially impressive given the depth of the competition in that field.
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8. Witney Carson
Image Credit: ABC Witney Carson won the Mirror Ball Trophy on her second try, in season 19 with Alfonso Ribeiro. Since then she was a finalist four more times with Frankie Muniz (third in season 25), Milo Manheim (second in season 27), Kel Mitchell (second in season 28), and Wayne Brady (third in season 31). She also earned an Emmy nomination for her choreography in 2015.
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7. Sharna Burgess
Image Credit: ABC/Kelsey McNeal The veteran pro first joined the show in season 16, and after a rough start she became a regular fixture in the top three, finishing in the finals five times in eight seasons starting in season 20. She finally won her elusive first Mirror Ball Trophy in season 27 with Bobby Bones in one of the biggest upsets in “DWTS” history.
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6. Julianne Hough
Image Credit: ABC Julianne Hough has been both a pro dancer and a judge on “Dancing with the Stars.” She won twice in a row, in seasons four (Apolo Anton Ohno) and five (Helio Castroneves). And on top of that she was a 2015 Emmy winner for her choreography.
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5. Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Image Credit: ABC Longtime ‘Dancing with the Stars’ pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy has been a finalist five times, but he didn’t win until his 14th try, in season 18 with Meryl Davis.
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4. Cheryl Burke
Image Credit: ABC ‘Dancing with the Stars’ veteran Cheryl Burke has competed for most of the series. She’s a seven-time finalist and won the Mirror Ball Trophy on her first two attempts, in seasons two (Drew Lachey) and three (Emmitt Smith).
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3. Val Chmerkovskiy
Image Credit: ABC It took him a while, but Val Chmerkovskiy finally won the Mirror Ball Trophy in season 20 with Rumer Willis. That was his eighth season on the show. Then he won again in season 23 with Laurie Hernandez. In his 18 seasons between season 13 and 31, he has made the finals an impressive eight times, so he can never be ruled out of the Mirror Ball conversation.
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2. Mark Ballas
Image Credit: ABC Mark Ballas has been a “Dancing with the Stars” finalist 10 times, winning in season six (Kristi Yamaguchi), season eight (Shawn Johnson), and season 31 (Charli D’Amelio). He’s also an Emmy nominee for choreography and arguably the most stylistically innovative dancer in the show’s history.
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1. Derek Hough
Image Credit: ABC Was there any doubt? Derek Hough has won “Dancing with the Stars” a whopping six times, thrice as many as any other pro dancer. He’s also a two-time Emmy winner for Best Choreography.
