Dancing With the Stars fans were left a little puzzled during the finale of the all-athletes season Monday, when after Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon and pro partner Jenna Johnson were crowned champions of the abbreviated season, the second and third place couples were not announced.
Since then, fans have wondered where NFL player Josh Norman and his partner Sharna Burgess ranked in comparison to former Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding and her partner Sasha Farber.
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“Due to time constraints, we were unable to announce the Mirrorball runners-up during the live show of the Dancing with the Stars: Athletes’ finale,” a spokesperson for BBC Studios told Entertainment Tonight after the finale.
They added, “The combination of the judges’ scores and America’s votes resulted in football cornerback Josh Norman and his partner Sharna Burgess placing second, and ice skating Olympian Tonya Harding and her partner, Sasha Farber, placing third.”
During the finale, each pair performed two dances for the judges: one in tribute to their time on the show and another in a freestyle form.
For the inspiration dance, Harding and Farber danced the Viennese Waltz to “The Time of My Life” by David Cooke, Norman and Burgess danced the Foxtrot to “Conqueror” by Estelle and Jussie Smollett, and Rippon and Johnson performed a jazz dance to “Anything You Can Do” by the Broadway cast of Annie Get Your Gun.
Rippon’s performance with Johnson throughout the season earned them the designation of “the Wonder Twins of dance” from judge Carrie Ann Inaba during the finale.
In the freeform round, Harding and Farber performed to “I Will Survive” by the Gloria Gaynor, Norman and Burgess danced to “Walk on Water” by Thirty Seconds to Mars, and Rippon and Johnson performed to “Scooby Doo Pa Pa” by DJ Kass.
Rippon and Johnson’s modern dance to the viral song definitely was different than anything fans have seen on the show thus far, and earned mixed reviews from the judges.
“I can’t fault you for what you did, but I felt like something was missing,” Inaba said.
“What it lacked in convention, it made up for in invention,” judge Len Goodman countered.
“It was high-style freestyle,” judge Bruno Tonioli added.
Rippon said he couldn’t have asked for more during the experience.
“This has been even above and beyond what I thought it would be,” Rippon told the judges.
Photo credit: ABC