Who Will Win DWTS: The Next Pro? The Final Four’s Chances Explained

Finale result (spoilers): Adele Zaikman won Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro in the August 31, 2026 finale, as reported by ABC News. The assessment below was written before the result and preserves our prediction at that point in the competition.

Our original August 20 final-four assessment

Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro is down to AJ Pritchard, Adele Zaikman, Allen Genkin and Selena Hamilton, but the competition still does not have an obvious winner. Based strictly on what has aired, Adele currently has the strongest overall case, with AJ extremely close behind because Episode 6 finally tested the skill he knows better than almost anyone else left: teaching a novice. Allen has quietly developed into a serious threat, while Selena enters the semifinals as the biggest wildcard after narrowly surviving elimination. When this August 20 assessment was first published, the pre-recorded result had not yet been announced publicly.

Adele Zaikman has built the strongest all-around case

Adele’s argument is increasingly difficult to ignore because her biggest strength is no longer simply that she is an exceptional competitive dancer. She entered The Next Pro with an elite Latin resume that includes success at the Blackpool Dance Festival, but the show has gradually tested whether that technical pedigree can translate into the less controlled job of teaching celebrities. That is where Episode 6 became especially useful. Asked to teach Anthony Riccardo an ambitious tango in two days, Adele took on a difficult routine despite his lack of confidence and made enough progress for Witney Carson to conclude that Adele could handle the job.

Mark Ballas also responded to Adele’s direct rehearsal approach and the dynamics she created in the final number, while Shirley Ballas praised both the difficulty of the choreography and the way Adele balanced firmness with fairness as a teacher. There are still areas where she can loosen up, particularly when the judges want more spontaneity or entertainment beyond pristine ballroom execution. Even so, Adele has now demonstrated technique, choreography, partnership and teaching rather than relying on one exceptional skill. That makes her my narrow favorite going into the semifinals.

AJ Pritchard may be the safest choice for the actual DWTS job

If the competition were decided entirely on who appears most prepared to begin work on regular Dancing with the Stars tomorrow, AJ would have a persuasive case for first place. He has already spent years doing an equivalent job as a professional on Britain’s Strictly Come Dancing, so teaching a celebrity under television pressure is not an abstract challenge for him. His previous experience has sometimes worked against him because the judges expect more creativity and emotional connection from somebody with that resume. Earlier episodes challenged him to stop relying on familiar instincts and prove that he could adapt to the American franchise.

Episode 6 was probably the strongest argument yet for why that experience matters. AJ had only two days to teach Bailey McKnight a Viennese waltz, and Mark noted how secure Bailey looked dancing with him. Shirley was even more emphatic about the coaching achievement, while Witney’s main criticism concerned emotional storytelling rather than whether AJ had successfully taught his partner. It was the sort of performance that made AJ look less like a contestant auditioning to become a pro and more like somebody already doing the job.

The question surrounding AJ is therefore not competence. It is whether The Next Pro wants to reward the contestant who already knows the job or identify someone whose growth through the competition makes them a more exciting addition to Season 35.

Allen Genkin has quietly become the dangerous third contender

Allen may not command AJ’s television recognition or Adele’s week-to-week judging headlines, but his case has become stronger as the competition has started emphasizing partnership. He already had history with the franchise before The Next Pro, having won DWTS’ “Ballroom Battle” challenge in 2012. He later became a dance studio co-owner, which gives him a background in teaching and managing dancers that fits the practical demands of the job.

His Episode 6 waltz with Zaira Yzabelle showed why he remains dangerous. Witney focused on the confidence Allen managed to build in his novice partner, which is one of the hardest things to fake in a two-day teaching challenge. Shirley liked their partnership but still found basic elements that needed cleaning up, making Allen’s position slightly less secure than Adele’s or AJ’s. The positive side is that his weakness is clear and potentially correctable: tighten the fundamentals without losing the warmth that makes inexperienced partners trust him.

That could matter enormously in a competition searching for a celebrity teacher rather than simply another ballroom champion. Allen may be the finalist most capable of jumping from third to first with one exceptional semifinal.

Related: Why Was Nina Mayster Eliminated From DWTS: The Next Pro?

Selena Hamilton enters the semifinals with the most to prove

Selena is the least secure member of the final four because Episode 6 nearly ended her run. Her quickstep with Jeremy Urann was entertaining, fast and memorable, but all three judges identified issues connected to the actual ballroom assignment. Witney felt there was not enough quickstep content, Mark wanted more travel around the floor, and Shirley questioned whether the routine properly demonstrated Selena’s ability to coach the character and fundamentals of the dance. Selena was subsequently placed in jeopardy with Nina Mayster before Nina was eliminated.

Yet Selena also has a quality that could make her dangerous in a television competition. Her background stretches beyond ballroom into jazz, contemporary and commercial performance, including work with artists and productions far removed from traditional DanceSport. That broader performance vocabulary gives her choreography personality and makes her difficult to overlook on camera.

The problem is that The Next Pro has repeatedly insisted that charisma cannot substitute for ballroom knowledge. Selena now has to demonstrate both at once. If she does, surviving Episode 6 could become the beginning of a late surge rather than evidence that she is simply the fourth-place contestant.

The semifinal could completely change the ranking

ABC has designed the August 24 semifinals to make comparisons even harder. The final four will work with established DWTS professionals Rylee Arnold, Gleb Savchenko, Jan Ravnik and Witney Carson across two semifinal rounds, with two-time Mirrorball champion Kym Johnson joining Mark and Shirley at the judges’ table. One contestant must miss the finale because ABC has already confirmed that only three dancers will advance.

That challenge should expose something Episode 6 could not. The contestants have just shown whether they can teach amateurs, but now they must function beside people who already understand exactly what a DWTS pro is expected to deliver. Their choreography, performance choices and ability to hold their own beside established professionals will be much easier to compare.

The finale then changes the assignment again. ABC says the final three will dance with former DWTS finalists Charli D’Amelio, Nev Schulman and Adam Rippon, while Derek Hough joins the judges and Witney co-hosts with Robert Irwin. Whoever wins will therefore have survived a final stretch built increasingly around the actual environment they are trying to enter.

So who is most likely to win The Next Pro?

My current prediction, based only on the episodes viewers have seen, is Adele first, AJ second, Allen third and Selena fourth. That is an editorial assessment, not a leak of the pre-recorded result. Adele has produced the strongest combination of elite ballroom ability and convincing evidence that she can teach, while AJ has the most proven experience doing essentially the job being offered. Allen is close enough to upset both of them, particularly if the semifinal emphasizes connection and coaching rather than technical perfection.

Selena would be the surprise winner from the current position, but The Next Pro has already shown how quickly one challenge can rearrange the field. Erik Linder went from receiving frontrunner attention to elimination, and Nina entered the teaching challenge with plenty of relevant experience before missing the semifinals. The remaining contestants are not being rewarded for a cumulative scorecard viewers can easily calculate. They are surviving increasingly specific auditions for one professional job.

That is why Adele gets only a narrow edge rather than a confident prediction. She currently looks like the most complete candidate, AJ looks like the most immediately employable candidate, and Allen may have the balance between teacher and performer that allows him to pass both. The August 24 semifinals should finally reveal which of those qualities the judges value most when the difference between competing on The Next Pro and actually joining DWTS Season 35 becomes one elimination away.