Dancing With the Stars Finale: Who Won It All?!

William Levy, Katherine Jenkins and Donald Driver each performed one more time, but only one got to keep the mirror-ball trophy

By Natalie Finn May 23, 2012 3:30 AMTags
William Levy, Katherine Jenkins, Donald DriverCraig Sjodin/ABC

One point separated first-place Katherine Jenkins from William Levy and Donald Driver at the end of Dancing With the Stars last night.

Each finalist earned another 30 from one more routine on Tuesday's finale, but really...the votes were in, and that mirror-ball trophy already had one star's name on it.

Was it the classical singer from Wales? The Super Bowl winner? The hunky telenovela star who will never go unknown on these shores again?

It's another party in the USA!

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver was named the winner of the 14th season of Dancing With the Stars tonight, making pro Peta Murgatroyd a champion just one season after being the first one out!

"Amazing! This is awesome!" Donald said when asked how he felt.

"Thank you so much, Mark, you've been...I can't put into words how much I've loved this," the ever-gracious Katherine said in defeat. "And thank you to everybody who's had me on the show. It's been an absolute dream, thank you."

"Congratulations, my man," Mark Ballas told the new champ.

With Donald's victory, Dancing With the Stars' all-time winners tally tips deeper in the men's favor, eight to six. Donald is also the third NFL pro to win after Emmitt Smith and Hines Ward. (May his aftermath be more Emmitt than Hines.)

William and Cheryl Burke, who we thought had a real shot at winning it all, finished in third place—but at least the eye candy stayed fresh all season.

"It was an amazing experience," said the Cuban actor, who early on eased Cheryl's concerns that he might just be some "arrogant, good-looking man" by being a real sweetheart (in addition to an incredibly good-looking man). "I thank you guys for all you have done for us. I'm going to miss all of you guys, I love you!"

Do you think the best star won? Sound off in the comments section!

(Originally published May 22, 2012, 8:02 p.m. PT)

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