It's wild to think about how dominant of a streak Witney Carson has had on Dancing With The Stars and that she only has one mirrorball trophy to show for it. Following the surprising announcement during the semi-final round, we'll officially see her and former NFL receiver Danny Amendola compete for her second victory, so I had to get her thoughts heading toward the finale's arrival on the Fall TV schedule.
CinemaBlend had a chance to speak to Carson before viewers tune in for the upcoming three-hour Season 33 finale on ABC on streaming with a Disney+ subscription. I have to point out that while Carson is no stranger to finale night, she hasn't won since current co-host Alfonso Ribeiro won a decade ago. The pro confirmed she's as aware of that as Dancing With The Stars fans and kicked things off with a joke:
You know what, I've just accepted it. I've accepted that I'm maybe just second place forever. No, I'm fine [laughs]. I've been second, like a lot of times, I've been third, a lot of times. But honestly, for me, everybody is like, ‘I wanna win, I wanna win,’ and obviously I wanna win. But I feel like now in my career it's more about just creating very unique and amazing routines and making sure that I do my job every single week and having a good time doing what I love.
The last season Witney Carson competed on Dancing With The Stars, she ended up finishing in third place with Wayne Brady in Season 31. She's came in third again in Season 25 with Frankie Muniz, and scored second place with Kel Mitchell in Season 28, and Milo Manheim in Season 27. She's had some early exits with contestants as well, but her pattern of success is more established than not.
And yet, ten years after winning her first Mirrorball Trophy in her second season, Witney Carson tries not to zero in on winning specifically. The Dancing With The Stars veteran confirmed that her focus is on other things, especially when it comes to her celebrity partner:
Pushing the boundaries of my celebrity and not necessarily worrying about the outcome, obviously keeping in mind I want to win and that would be amazing. But for me, it's just better to think about what I'm doing and just staying in the moment.
Danny Amendola has had some moments this season where he was a standout, and at one point, I called him my surprise favorite to win it all. When other contestants like Ilona Maher and the world try to replicate your dance routines on TikTok, you're doing something right. If her goal going into this season was to create memorable big moments, she's already succeeded.
CinemaBlend also had a chance to talk to Brandon Armstrong about competing in Dancing With The Stars, and I bring that up because his thoughts echoed Witney Carson's quite a bit. He's not losing sleep at night over dance routines and worrying if he's going to win it all. For him and Witney Carson, it's about helping the celebrities shine and perform to the best of their abilities. It's an interesting perspective to hear as an outsider since I just assumed everyone wanted the prestige of being the dominant winner of the show.
As mentioned, we will see who wins Dancing With The Stars Season 33 during the three-hour finale on Tuesday, November 26th, beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+. Honestly, I'm rooting for everyone left in the competition at this point, and I would be happy if any of them ended up with the trophy.
