Rhys McClenaghan has responded after social media users said that Jack Woolley and his pro partner Alex Vladimirov were robbed on last night's final of Dancing with the Stars.
Rhys and his pro partner Laura Nolan were the pair to win the Glitterball trophy in a nail-bitingly close finale of the dancing competition.
The final four couples to reach the final after an outstanding season were Danny O'Carroll and Salome Chachua, Kayleigh Trappe and Ervinas Merfeldas, Jack and Alex and Rhys and Laura. Rhys has said just to make it to the final and give a great performance meant to the world to them, regardless of winning.
Speaking to RSVP Live after their win, Laura said: "After we finished our show dance, we felt incredible and we said to ourselves that we gave everything we possibly could."
Newtownards Olympian Rhys added: "We had a chat before the results were called out and we said we should both be so proud of ourselves, we're so happy no matter what happens. But that of course was the cherry on top. We were both super proud before even the results were called out, but then of course to be named Dancing With The Stars champions 2025 is just amazing."
One of the other front runners to win throughout the series was Jack Woolley, with certain fans on social media saying he was "robbed" of the Glitterball trophy - but Rhys is taking those comments in his stride.
"It's always going to be the case, isn't it, on social media," he said. "It's incredible what the guys have done and they should all be very proud of themselves. I know if I didn't win the Glitterball, I would still be so proud of myself walking away today."
Laura added: "Before we went out, all the pros got all their partners in a little circle and we spoke about it. We said this year in particular, anyone could have won it; the standard was so high. Everyone was so proud of themselves and I think it was an incredible season and everyone raised the bar this year. It could have been anyone's really."
After becoming a DWTS champion, what is next for Rhys? "I go back into full time training, my days will be gymnastics instead of dance and gymnastics," he said. "I look forward to that."
He added: "I'll really miss dancing; tonight I got a really similar feeling to how I feel when I compete in gymnastics and I didn't think anything would ever come close to that. I feel like that's just the power of dance and expressing yourself through movement and through emotions."
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English (United States) ·