'Dancing With the Stars' Crowns Season 30 Winner and Makes History

By Stephanie Downs

Dancing With the Stars has officially crowned the winner of Season 30. The finalists were Amanda Kloots, JoJo Siwa, Iman Shumpert, and Cody Rigsby. After a season full of incredible routines and more than a few emotional moments, host Tyra Banks announced that Shumpert was the winner. He became the first ex-NBA player to win the competition (he already made history as the first NBA player to make it to the finale). His partner, Daniella Karagach, also secured her first win. 

The season started with a full slate of celebrities. The cast included Cobra Kai star Martin Kove, Bling Empire star Christine Chiu, actor Brian Austin Green, former Bachelor Matt James, Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kenya Moore, Spice Girls singer Melanie C, WWE personality Mike "The Miz" Mizanin, country singer Jimmie Allen, influencer Olivia Jade Giannulli, actor Melora Hardin, and Olympian Suni Lee. This past season featured a number of firsts for the show, including the first same-sex coupling in Siwa and her partner Jenna Johnson. 

"When I got the email [with] the subject 'Dancing with the Stars,' I didn't even read the email. I just replied, 'Yes,'" Siwa recounted ahead of the season, per The Wrap. "I didn't look at the time, I didn't look at anything. I just knew I wanted to do it. Then finally I gathered my thoughts and I ended up going back and reading the email. And in the email, it said, 'Jojo, would you like to be partnered with a girl or with a boy?'" She said that she requested to dance with a female pro "without hesitation" and added, "It would be so incredible, it would mean so much to me – and I think so much to a lot of people around the world – if I partnered with another female. So right away, it wasn't a question."

Season 30 came amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, one of the season's competitors, Rigsby, did come down with a breakthrough case of COVID-19. His partner, Cheryl Burke, also tested positive for the illness. At the time, there was much speculation about whether they would be able to continue on in the competition due to their diagnoses. However, DWTS did allow them to compete outside of the ballroom while they were quarantining (this marked the first performance that was featured on the show that did not take place in the ballroom). Of course, they were able to return to the DWTS stage after they recovered from their bouts with the illness. They managed to overcome that hurdle in order to make it all the way to the finale. 

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