Overview
- Adele Zaikman won the live finale and will join Dancing With the Stars Season 35, with AJ Pritchard finishing second and Selena Hamilton placing third after the Aug. 31 finale.
- Producers will announce Zaikman’s celebrity partner when they reveal the full Season 35 cast on Good Morning America on Sept. 2 and the season premieres Sept. 15.
- The finale required each finalist to choreograph and teach two routines—a chosen ballroom/Latin dance and a freestyle—while performing with former DWTS contestants and judged by the regular panel plus guest judge Derek Hough.
- Executive producer Conrad Green said the series was designed as an intensive, unlike prior pro hires, and Zaikman had to keep her new role secret after production wrapped in April.
- The Next Pro ran eight weeks to test teaching, choreography and live-performance skills as a pipeline into DWTS, and producers say they may consider returning the spinoff in future seasons.