Xochitl Gomez Named Winner of Season 32 of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars”

Xochitl Gomez is dancing on the ceiling…

The 17-year-old Mexican American actress and Marvel star and her professional dancing partner Val Chmerkovskiy have become the first pair to win Dancing With the Stars’ Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.

Xochitl Gomez, Dancing with the StarsThe DWTS grand prize was renamed to honor Goodman in September. Goodman, who died at age 78 in April, served as a judge on the reality competition series from 2005 to 2022. 

Gomez and Chmerkovsky claimed the trophy during the Tuesday, December 5, season 32 finale of the long-running ABC celebrity ballroom dancing competition, making her the fourth Hispanic celebrity to win Dancing with the Stars and the first celebrity of Mexican descent to claim the trophy.

“I don’t want this show to end, and I think it’s gonna be really good for me to keep coming back,” she joked after her big win during the finale.

After redeeming their foxtrot and bringing it home with a fiery freestyle, Gomez and Chmerkovskiy received two back-to-back perfect scores from the judges. With their scores from the semifinals also included in their judges’ totals Tuesday night, they were the only couple to earn a perfect score of 120 across all four dances.

“Gosh, I didn’t think that [we did that]. I forgot until there had been like a little thing that said, this is your score something out of something, and it was the score. I was like, ‘What? We did that?’ Yeah, we did that. I’m proud of that,” Gomez said.

Ahead of Tuesday night’s performances, judge Bruno Tonioli visited Gomez and Chmerkovskiy in the studio to reassign them the foxtrot and give Gomez some pointers on how to improve in the dance style. Tonioli said during rehearsals that he was hoping to see more “refined sophistication” than the couple’s first attempt at the foxtrot in week three.

Gomez was the last to grace the stage for the redemption round, but certainly not the least. She made her latest foxtrot look effortless, earning praise from all three judges, including Tonioli, who told her she is a “delight” to watch.

Gomez told Deadline the judge’s advice in rehearsals was invaluable to be able to perfect her foxtrot, especially when it came to lengthening her arms.

“That was one of the things that I tried to do, but I was never that successful. And I tried a lot, but it was hard. So for someone else to have a different voice and tell me, ‘This is something that is one of your weakest points. So fix it.’ And also for him to show me how to do it. I thought that was really nice and definitely helped me out for the foxtrot,” she said.

Chmerkovskiy expressed pride for his partner, beaming as he explained he was most impressed with “how much dance she’s learned.”

“I mean, we put in the work at the studio. But usually we like do a lot more warming up and practicing during the show leading up to the performance. Today, we just trusted ourselves and came out and just danced,” he said.

In the final moments of the Season 32 finale, Gomez and Chmerkovskiy stood on stage next to Jason Mraz and his partner Daniella Karagach, anxiously awaiting the news on who’d eked out the victory. Just as host Alfonso Ribeiro was about to announce the victors, he instead cut to a final commercial — prompting a loud groan from the audience.

“The whole night was special. I keep saying it feels bittersweet because, for us, every week that we had a great performance felt like exactly like this feeling. Truly, every time we got called safe, we felt like we were winning. So tonight, it felt like that times 100.”

Here’s the list of the DWTS winners of Hispanic descent:

Season 5: Hélio Castroneves (Brazilian) and Julianne Hough
Season 13: J.R. Martinez (Salvadoran American) and Karina Smirnoff
Season 23: Laurie Hernandez (Puerto Rican) and Val Chmerkovskiy
Season 32: Xochitl Gomez (Mexican American) and Val Chmerkovskiy

Xochitl Gomez to Compete on Season 32 of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars”

Xochitl Gomez is heading to the ballroom…

The 17-year-old Mexican American actress and Marvel star will compete on season 32 of Dancing with the Stars.

Xochitl GomezBut Gomez won’t be the only Latinx competitor.

Venezuelan YouTuber, actress and singer Lele Pons, 27, and Mexican real estate mogul and television star Mauricio Umansky, 53, will also compete this season.

Other competitors include Mira SorvinoAriana MadixCharity LawsonJamie Lynn Spears, Alyson Hannigan and NFL star Adrian Peterson.

“There’s something for everyone in this cast,” says executive producer Conrad Green. “What’s interesting with a lot of our contestants this year is this real drive and excitement about doing it. There’s a real passion for it. It’s been a tough number of years, one way or another with the strikes going on and all these things. So what I’m hoping we can bring to people is bringing Dancing back and giving audiences a blast of sunshine early in the week.”

After Tyra Banks‘ exit, Alfonso Ribeiro will return as a host, stepping onto the main stage, while former Dancing pro Julianne Hough joins to take over Ribeiro’s former cohost slot in the Sky Box.

The show is also back in its original home, airing live on ABC, after being solely available on Disney+ last season (where it will now stream concurrently).

Here’s the full cast for season 32 of Dancing with the Stars:

  • Supermodel Tyson Beckford with partner Jenna Johnson
  • Marvel star Xochitl Gomez with partner Val Chmerkovskiy
  • How I Met Your Motherstar Alyson Hannigan with partner Sasha Farber
  • Social media and reality TV star Harry Jowsey with partner Rylee Arnold
  • Bachelorette Charity Lawson with partner Artem Chigvintsev
  • Vanderpump Rules‘ Ariana Madix with partner Pasha Pashkov
  • Grammy-winning singer Jason Mraz with partner Daniella Karagach
  • NFL All-Star Adrian Peterson with partner Britt Stewart
  • Singer and social media star Lele Pons with partner Brandon Armstrong
  • Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino with partner Gleb Savchenko
  • Actress Jamie Lynn Spears with partner Alan Bersten
  • Real estate mogul and TV star Mauricio Umansky with partner Emma Slater
  • Comedian and actor Matt Walsh with partner Koko Iwasaki
  • The Brady Bunch star Barry Williams with partner Peta Murgatroyd

Dancing With the Stars premieres on Tuesday, September 26, at 8:00 pm ET/PT on ABC.

Justina Machado to Appear in First-Ever The Muppets Halloween Television Special

It’ll be a Haunted Halloween for Justina Machado.

The 49-year-old Puerto Rican actress will appear in the first Halloween television special featuring The Muppets.

Justina Machado

Muppets Haunted Mansion will premiere on Friday, October 8, exclusively on Disney+.

Starring in the special alongside the Muppets are Will Arnett (as The Ghost Host), Yvette Nicole Brown (The Hearse Driver), Darren Criss (The Caretaker) and Taraji P. Henson (The Bride).

In Muppets Haunted Mansion, the Great Gonzo – world-famous daredevil artiste, has done it all, seen it all and survived it all. But on Halloween night, the fearless Gonzo takes on the greatest challenge of his life by spending one very daring night in the most grim grinning place on Earth: the Haunted Mansion.

In addition to Machado, Muppets Haunted Mansion will also feature appearances from Chrissy Metz, Alfonso Ribeiro, Edward Asner, Jeannie Mai, Danny Trejo, Sasheer Zamata, Craig Robinson, Skai Jackson, Pat Sajak, Geoff Keighley, Kim Irvine and John Stamos as himself.

The Muppets Haunted Mansion EP will be released on October 8 from Walt Disney Records, and will include three new original songs: “Rest in Peace,” “Life Hereafter,” and “Tie the Knot Tango,” plus a cover of the 1970s classic, “Dancing in the Moonlight.”

First Trailer Released for HBO Max’s “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion” Featuring Tatyana Ali

Tatyana Ali is back in Bel-Air

The first trailer has been released to the 41-year-old half-Afro-Panamanian actress’ upcoming The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion.

Tatyana Ali

Will Smith posted the trailer for the special, which will debut on HBO Max on Thursday, November 19.

A highlight of the trailer features the surprise appearance of actress Janet Hubert, who played the NBC comedy’s original Aunt Viv and has, over the many years since, made her anger over the decision well known.

“I couldn’t celebrate 30 years of Fresh Prince without Janet,” Smith tells the surprised other members of the reunited cast.

In addition to Smith, Ali and Hubert, the unscripted special, shot on the old sitcom set, features Karyn Parsons, Joseph Marcell, Daphne Maxwell Reid, Alfonso Ribeiro as well as recurring co-star DJ Jazzy Jeff. The cast also pays tribute to the late James Avery, who played patriarch Philip. Avery died in 2013.

Taped on the 30th anniversary of the original series premiere date, the special also includes a candid sit-down chat between Smith and Hubert, their first in 27 years.

Produced by Westbrook Media, the reunion will launch exclusively on HBO Max on November 19. HBO Max is the exclusive SVOD home of the full original series library in the US, debuting on the platform when it launched in May. Marcus Raboy directs the special. Raphael Saadiq serves as executive music producer.

Smith also is developing a Fresh Prince drama reboot at Peacock.

It’s Official… Mota to Compete on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars”

It’s official… Bethany Mota will be shaking her tailfeather on television soon.

The 18-year-old half-Mexican YouTube vlogger and fashionista, as previously rumored, has been selected to compete on Season 19 of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars.

Bethany Mota

Mota, who recently won Choice Female Web Star at the Teen Choice Awards, is among the 13 new dancers for the upcoming season of DWTS, which will premiere on Monday, September 15.

The beauty guru’s YouTube channel — macbarbie07 (7 million subscribers) — features hair, makeup, fashion and DIY tutorials. It earned her a fashion line at Aéropostale, and she was featured as part of a YouTube ad campaign.

Paired with professional dancer Derek Hough, Mota will compete for the coveted mirror ball trophy against the likes of Olympian Lolo Jones, Mean GirlsJonathan Bennett, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air‘s Alfonso Ribeiro and NASCAR great Michael Waltrip.

Other competitors include Duck Dynasty’s Sadie Robertson, actress Lea Thompson of Back to the Future, Ultimate Fighting Champion Randy Couture, legendary comedian Tommy Chong, celebrated talk show host Tavis Smiley, as well as famed fashion designer Betsey Johnson, Pretty Little Liars actress Janel Parrish and General Hospital alum Antonio Sabato, Jr.

Co-hosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews announced the celebrity cast live Thursday morning on Good Morning America in Times Square.

The addition of Julianne Hough, named as the fourth judge last month, will add some pizazz this season. Hough won two mirror-ball trophies as a pro during her DWTS run, and will have a permanent spot at the judges’ table next to veterans Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.