Who Won DWTS: The Next Pro? Adele Zaikman Joins Season 35

Adele Zaikman is officially the winner of Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro Season 1. After eight weeks of auditions, teaching challenges and increasingly difficult choreography tests, the judges selected Adele over runner-up AJ Pritchard and third-place finalist Selena Hamilton. Her victory gives her the prize the entire competition was built around: a professional dancer position on Dancing with the Stars Season 35. Adele strengthened her case throughout the finale with two routines alongside Nev Schulman, earning a standing ovation for their samba before closing the competition with a dramatic freestyle. The result also confirms that the pre-finale speculation surrounding Adele’s appearances near DWTS rehearsals was pointing in the right direction.

Who won DWTS: The Next Pro Season 1?

Adele Zaikman won Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro, defeating AJ Pritchard and Selena Hamilton in the final decision. The judges revealed the finishing order after all three contestants completed two dances with returning DWTS celebrity alumni. Selena finished third after dancing with Adam Rippon, while AJ took second place following his routines with Season 31 champion Charli D’Amelio. That left Adele as the inaugural Next Pro winner.

The result was not particularly surprising based on the final few episodes. Adele had developed into one of the competition’s most consistent contestants, combining elite ballroom technique with increasingly strong evidence that she could actually teach, choreograph and manage a celebrity partnership. The finale ultimately reinforced all three of those strengths.

Why did Adele Zaikman win The Next Pro?

Adele’s biggest advantage was that the judges increasingly saw her as someone who could do the DWTS pro job immediately, rather than merely an exceptional dancer.

For her first finale routine, Adele was paired with former Catfish host and Season 29 finalist Nev Schulman. She chose a samba to Burn Up the Dance by Dillon Francis and Skrillex, and the performance earned a standing ovation.

Derek Hough praised what Adele had accomplished with Nev, while Mark Ballas again referenced the intense performance quality that had become one of her signatures during the competition. Shirley Ballas delivered the most important comment, describing Adele as a “magical teacher” and saying her skills were “second to none.” That praise goes directly to what The Next Pro was designed to test.

Almost every contestant entered the show as an accomplished dancer. The difficult part was proving they could take somebody else’s strengths and weaknesses, create appropriate choreography and turn that person into a convincing television performer. Adele repeatedly demonstrated that ability as the season progressed.

Adele and Nev’s freestyle sealed her finale case

The second round allowed the three finalists much more creative freedom through freestyle routines involving backup dancers.

Selena went in a gritty contemporary direction with Adam, while AJ created a multi-style celebration with Charli. Adele made a noticeably different choice.

Rather than creating a freestyle that jumped between several unrelated dance styles, she built the routine around a powerful paso doble to Natural by Imagine Dragons. The decision worked.

Derek praised the power of the performance and specifically liked Adele’s decision to commit strongly to a recognizable style. Mark responded to its ferocity and drama, while Shirley again focused on how effectively Adele had used Nev throughout both of their routines.

That final point was especially relevant after one of the night’s recurring judging themes became whether the prospective professionals were truly maximizing their celebrity partners.

Adele did not simply dance impressively beside Nev. The judges felt she made him an important part of what she created.

Why didn’t AJ Pritchard win?

AJ’s second-place finish is notable because he entered The Next Pro with perhaps the most directly relevant experience of anyone in the cast.

He had already spent four seasons as a professional on Britain’s Strictly Come Dancing, meaning celebrity teaching and television choreography were hardly unfamiliar territory. That experience repeatedly made AJ look like the safest candidate to move immediately into DWTS. His finale was strong as well.

AJ partnered Charli D’Amelio for a Viennese waltz to Golden Hour. Mark found plenty of proper content in the routine, while Derek praised the confidence and trust between AJ and Charli. Shirley, however, identified a significant missed opportunity: AJ had drawn one of the most accomplished celebrity dancers in DWTS history, but she did not think he created enough standout moments around her.

AJ answered strongly in the freestyle round. His Bad Man routine incorporated multiple styles, with Derek saying the dance “had it all” and Mark praising how quickly AJ had assembled such an ambitious number. There was no disastrous performance that cost AJ the title. Adele simply appears to have given the judges the more convincing complete audition.

Selena Hamilton finished third after a major late-season comeback

Selena Hamilton finished third, but reaching the final decision itself represented an impressive turnaround. Only two episodes earlier, she had been in jeopardy and faced serious criticism about whether her ballroom knowledge was deep enough for the professional position. The semifinals dramatically changed her trajectory, and the finale continued that momentum.

Selena opened with a high-energy jive alongside Adam Rippon. Mark called her an electric performer, Shirley praised how well she had absorbed criticism throughout the season, and Derek said she commanded attention like a star.

Her freestyle may have contained the most intriguing compliment of the finale. After Selena created a gritty contemporary fusion to Cry Me a River, Derek said that if she became a professional on regular DWTS, the routine showed why she could become a fan favorite.

She did not win, but she left the competition with a much stronger argument for a future role somewhere within the franchise than she had only a few weeks earlier.

Did the Adele Zaikman winner spoiler turn out to be true?

Yes, in the sense that the speculation correctly identified Adele as the eventual winner. Before the finale aired, Adele had reportedly been spotted around the Dancing with the Stars production environment in Los Angeles after The Next Pro had already completed filming. Because the show’s winner was guaranteed a Season 35 professional position, viewers naturally wondered whether Adele’s presence around DWTS rehearsals had accidentally revealed the result.

At the time, those photographs were still circumstantial evidence. Adele could theoretically have been around the production for another reason, so reporting that she had definitely won would have gone beyond what was confirmed. Now the result changes the context.

Related: Why Is Charli D’Amelio Back on DWTS? Her Next Pro Finale Role Explained

Adele really did win, meaning the earlier sightings were consistent with her transition into the Season 35 professional lineup. The supposed spoiler was therefore substantially more meaningful than an ordinary fan theory, even though it could not be treated as confirmation before the finale aired.

What does Adele Zaikman get for winning The Next Pro?

Adele’s prize is a professional dancer position on Dancing with the Stars Season 35. That makes The Next Pro considerably different from a reality competition where the winner leaves with only a title or trophy. Adele has effectively won a television job.

She will now move from auditioning in front of Mark and Shirley Ballas to becoming part of the professional lineup on the flagship series. The next major question is who her celebrity partner will be, because that pairing will determine how quickly her skills as a teacher are tested outside the controlled environment of The Next Pro.

The full Season 35 cast and pairings are expected to become much clearer with the upcoming official cast reveal. Season 35 then begins with its two-night premiere on September 15 and September 16.

Adele’s Next Pro victory therefore has almost no cooldown period. She has spent the summer proving that she can become a DWTS professional, and within weeks she will have to demonstrate that the judges made the right choice with a real Season 35 celebrity standing beside her.