Dancing With the Stars Champion Speaks Out on Victory and Mirror-Ball Glory!

A winner has been crowned! The mirror-ball trophy has been placed in the hands of a new Dancing With the Stars champion! Dreams have been realized and hopes dashed. Basically, it's been another week in reality-TV land.

Right after the DWTS champ was announced, we got to chat with the winning pair and the runners-up. What did the champ have to say about taking home the title?

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Two-time Super Bowl winner Hines Ward and second-time DWTS champion Kym Johnson won it all tonight, and we are happy to report that they couldn't stop gushing about their victory...and each other.

He told us exclusively after the show, "I will put trophy next to my Super Bowl MVP trophy—that took a few guys to win—and this was me and Kym, and it's a huge achievement that deserves to be up there next to that trophy." He also thanked all of his costars on the series, saying, "You guys made it fun for me. Kym took this guy who didn't dance— who didn't even go to his prom—and she's my prom date right here now." All together now: Awwww...

Still, it was a close call. Hines says, "When I saw it came down to me and Kirstie I thought, 'Oh jeez, but it really came down to the voting.'" As for his life post-Stars, Hines is just heading back to work. He says, "Now that's it over, I will take a break from dancing. I need a break, but I hope Kym comes to see me play a game in Pittsburgh."

Runner-up Kirstie Alley just wishes the results had been different for the sake of partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy. She told us, "I wish I could have been better, because we were this close! I was mixed bag...I'm not 24 [years old]. I love Maks. I'm OK [with the outcome] for me, I'm not happy for him because of how hard he had to work to get me to this point." Still, the competition was a rewarding experience for the actress, both physically and emotionally. She says, "I have no idea [how many iches I lost overall], I feel like I lost a million, but overall, maybe top to bottom, it was 38 inches...I will continue to dance I wish I was better but dancing it feels amazing exhilarating everyone should do it it truly feels amazing."

Last but not least, young Chelsea Kane is pretty happy with the outcome too. She says, "This has far exceeded my expectations. We put up a good fight. I'm fine so happy to be here so grateful to the fans."

Do you like the final result of this season of Dancing With the Stars? Is Hines Ward a deserving champ? Tell us in the comments!

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