Originally appeared on E! Online.
Crikey, winning “Dancing With the Stars” has become a family tradition.
Robert Irwin and partner Witney Carson were declared the winners of the ABC show on the season 34 finale on Nov. 25, 10 years after his sister Bindi Irwin won the Mirrorball trophy.
“My sister said it best: Thank you for changing my life,” the TV personality — son of “Crocodile Hunter” star Steve Irwin and Terri Irwin — said after he and the dance pro received the same honor. Carson added, “I’m so grateful for Irwin. Honestly, I feel like I already won with him as my friend.”
Before the 21-year-old and Carson were crowned the winners of DWTS season 34, couples Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy, Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa, Dylan Efron and Daniella Karagach and Elaine Hendrix and Alan Bersten were revealed in second, third, fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Irwin — who was considered one of the frontrunners throughout the competition — had kept his and Bindi’s dad close to his heart as the pair quickstepped their way to victory.
READ: ‘Dancing with the Stars” Andy Richter defends Whitney Leavitt after ‘absolutely insane’ elimination
He revealed before the semifinals that he wore two keepsakes from their father — who died in 2006 — on every performance day: a button-down shirt and a ring created from keys to the siblings’ childhood home.
“These two things are a way to keep me close to home and to what’s most important to me,” Irwin said in his Nov. 17 video, adding that he likes that the shirt, which he had repaired, “still looks and feels like him.”
“Each one of the holes, and the tears, and each of the missing buttons,” he explained, “tells a story.”
Season 34 of DWTS previously featured contestants Corey Feldman, Jen Affleck, Lauren Jauregui, Baron Davis, Hilaria Baldwin, Scott Hoying, Danielle Fishel, Andy Richter and Whitney Leavitt — who was eliminated on the semifinals one week before the finale.
Richter, who was voted off one week before “The Secret Lives of Mormons” cast member, shared his thoughts on the season’s voting trends while defending the reality star’s honor following what he called her “insane” exit.
“There’s a whole soap opera going on adjacent to this show online,” the 59-year-old told Entertainment Weekly in an interview posted on Nov. 19. “It’s a good way to sort of take the temperature of what the audience is feeling in terms of voting. I’ve seen forever, there’s like people just like, ‘Whitney’s gotta go,’ and I’m just like, ‘What? Why?'”
While many fans agreed Leavitt had it coming, one week prior to her departure, she stunned viewers when she channeled Roxie Hart in her and Mark’s Argentine Tango performance of “Cell Block Tango” from Chicago.
Other dance highlights this season included Hendrix and Bersten incorporating the “Parent Trap” handshake into their Cha-cha-cha on the premiere and Efron and Karagach’s air walk move spurring many — including the dance pro’s husband Pasha Pashkov — to reenact it on social media.
This season also went harder than ever on the nostalgia.
Former dance pros Kym Johnson-Herjavec and Cheryl Burke served as guest judges, as did Tom Bergeron. The former DWTS host appeared on the Nov. 11 episode, which doubled as a 20th birthday celebration for the series and featured a slew of additional faces, including the original six dance pros and past celebrity contestants such as Xochitl Gomez and Ariana Madix.
The wildlife conservationist and his “Dancing with the Stars” pro partner Witney Carson join Access Daily’s Mario Lopez and Kit Hoover to share insight on their intense rehearsals and even show off a few moves.
