Looking back at the finalists' performances before the winners were announced, it's not hard to understand that Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovoloni didn't expect to take home the Mirror Ball trophy. They got mixed responses from the judges, unlike fellow contestants, Shawn Johnson and Derek Hough, who collected three perfect scores from the juries. "It's unbelievable," so the victors said.
It caught Melissa off guard because she thought Shawn was the winner. "When it was our name called, I just went, oh, my gosh, how did this just happen," the former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader told the press after the finale of the dancing competition. "The support behind us the entire season it feels good. I felt the cast was genuinely happy for us. It feels good to have fought hard all season and proven ourselves!"
"I can't even sum up what's happened to my life in the past four years. It's unbelievable," she added. "Everything has been unexpected and I just kind of learned to go with the flow, take everything with a grain of salt and move forward and I've been lucky. I've been blessed with a lot of really good things in my life and take advantage of it and always do it with a smile. Things are good right now. I have no complaints and I feel really blessed."
Tony who partnered Melissa on the dancing competition was also surprised by the win. "You know what, I've paid my dues but it was worth the entire 14 seasons to get somebody like Melissa," the Albanian dancer said. "It was worth this unbelievable moment, this incredible ride- all the stars have to align sometimes and tonight, they all did."
The win became more special because it happened on the anniversary night of his and wife Lina's wedding. "It's my wife's and my anniversary tonight, and the 100 year of independence for Albanians, so this is an incredible moment. Melissa didn't just affect me. She affected an entire nation. This moment I share with all our fans," he gushed.
Shawn and Derek finished second, while the other finalist Kelly Monaco and her pro-dancing partner Val Chmerkovskiy placed third. It became the first "DWTS" win for both Melissa and Tony.
It caught Melissa off guard because she thought Shawn was the winner. "When it was our name called, I just went, oh, my gosh, how did this just happen," the former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader told the press after the finale of the dancing competition. "The support behind us the entire season it feels good. I felt the cast was genuinely happy for us. It feels good to have fought hard all season and proven ourselves!"
"I can't even sum up what's happened to my life in the past four years. It's unbelievable," she added. "Everything has been unexpected and I just kind of learned to go with the flow, take everything with a grain of salt and move forward and I've been lucky. I've been blessed with a lot of really good things in my life and take advantage of it and always do it with a smile. Things are good right now. I have no complaints and I feel really blessed."
Tony who partnered Melissa on the dancing competition was also surprised by the win. "You know what, I've paid my dues but it was worth the entire 14 seasons to get somebody like Melissa," the Albanian dancer said. "It was worth this unbelievable moment, this incredible ride- all the stars have to align sometimes and tonight, they all did."
The win became more special because it happened on the anniversary night of his and wife Lina's wedding. "It's my wife's and my anniversary tonight, and the 100 year of independence for Albanians, so this is an incredible moment. Melissa didn't just affect me. She affected an entire nation. This moment I share with all our fans," he gushed.
Shawn and Derek finished second, while the other finalist Kelly Monaco and her pro-dancing partner Val Chmerkovskiy placed third. It became the first "DWTS" win for both Melissa and Tony.
