After sensational performances week after week, Charli D’Amelio and Mark Ballas were crowned the Dancing With the Stars season 31 winners at the end of the November 21 finale. Mark made his triumphant return as a pro after a 5-year break. So, will he return for season 32?
“I don’t know. You know, the older I get I try to stay very present in the moment,” Mark told reporters, including HollywoodLife, after the finale. “I think that was a big part of creating these dances every week. I tried to put every aspect of creativity, care, musicality, nuance into each one. I think you can only do that by staying totally in the moment of each time, so right now I’m in this moment with Charli… and my body couldn’t even fathom the thought of doing this in 6 months, so I’ll let you know down the line.”
Charli and Mark received rave reviews for their two performances during the finale. Bruno Tonioli called their freestyle “pure, unquestionable excellence.” After getting several perfect scores before the finale, Charli was asked about potentially becoming a professional ballroom dancer.
“Oh my goodness, I think it would be a whole lot of work to learn how to do it the way the pros do it, and I think that’s a lot, and they’re incredibly talented. This was a lot for me, so I couldn’t imagine being a pro,” the TikTok star said.
Charli and mom Heidi D’Amelio were both contestants in season 31, but only Charli made it to the finale. Charli admitted that she “wasn’t sure” how the season would play out having to compete against her mom. But at the end of the day, she was thrilled to have her mom by her side.
“It was so amazing having my mom be a part of this competition, but then also having her come and watch me was really cool. And to see her dance tonight, it was just all a great experience. I think we both got a lot out of this show for ourselves and that was really awesome,” Charli told reporters.