Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro Winner: There is something almost poetic about a dancer winning a competition that is essentially asking one question: who gets to dance next?
After eight weeks of rehearsals, challenges, eliminations and enough ballroom pressure to make even the most seasoned dancer sweat, Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro declared its first winner: Adele Zaikman. Zaikman earned the title of The Next Pro and a spot on Dancing with the Stars Season 35.
Who Is Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro Winner?
Adele Zaikman emerged victorious over the three finalists, including AJ Pritchard and Selena Hamilton, in the August 31 finale.
The prize for the emerging winner was never simply the trophy; the winner was promised something bigger: a place among the professional dancers of one of television’s most recognisable dance competitions.
This was not simply about dancing beautifully but also proving that they could do what professional dancers on Dancing with the Stars actually do: work with the celebrities, adapt their choreography, communicate through movement and make their partners look good while allowing their personalities to shine.
Adele Zaikman was paired with Nev Schulman, and they performed a high-energy Samba. AJ Pritchard was paired with Charli D’Amelio, and Selena Hamilton with Adam Rippon. The finalists had two rounds: a dance in the style of their choice and a freestyle performance.
Adele Zaikman Looked Like She Belonged There
One of the things that made the 24-year-old Latin dancer Adele Zaikman stand out throughout the competition was that she never seemed to be dancing just to prove that she could dance. Techniques can be learned; steps can be cleaned; timing can be put into muscle memory until the body knows what to do before the brain catches up, but the presence is more difficult.
Zaikman had the presence; in fact, she was described as the most consistent finalist who had the charisma and ability to command attention while performing. That matters enormously for a platform like Dancing with the Stars because being a professional on the show is not about walking onto the floor doing the most technically difficult dance routine but about taking a celebrity who might not have danced ever, finding something unique in them and turning it into a performance that makes people feel something.
This is a completely different skill, and The Next Pro was designed to find someone who could handle that.
From Blackpool to the Dancing With the Stars Ballroom
Adele Zaikman’s win also feels like a culmination of a dance career that existed before the TV show knocked on her door. She is a Blackpool Dance Festival Champion, bringing serious competitive credentials into a franchise where the dancers are expected to be both great dancers and entertainers.
Her transition into Dancing With the Stars is particularly interesting because the rules change: the ballroom floor is familiar; the celebrity, cameras and social media reactions would not be. Zaikman is not only responsible for her own dancing but would be responsible for choreographing, adapting, reassuring, performing and getting the celebrity to learn the eight counts who might keep turning the wrong way.
The Next Pro Winner Is Not the End
The hilarious part about winning a show called The Next Pro is perhaps that the title itself sounds a bit like an end while it is actually a beginning. Adele Zaikman has not finished the journey, but has won the opportunity.
The upcoming Dancing with the Stars Season 35 will be her first real test as a professional, and unlike The Next Pro, she would not be directly competing against other dancers for one golden ticket; but she would have to build a partnership with a celebrity, survive the eliminations, and figure out what suits the celebrity the best.
This is where the real story begins. The Next Pro asked whether Adele Zaikman was ready to become a professional, while Dancing with the Stars will ask what kind of professional she wants to become.
Adele Zaikman Is the Newest Dancing with the Stars Pro
With Adele Zaikman’s win, Dancing with the Stars has officially got the newest professional dancer for the family.
The Season 35 cast will be revealed on September 2, with the new season premiering on September 15 and 16 as a special two-night premiere event to be broadcast on ABC and streamed simultaneously on Disney+.
For now, Adele Zaikman gets to enjoy the calmer part: the moments before the next rehearsal with a new title. Adele Zaikman did not just win Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro Winner, but she won the chance to become part of what comes next, and now we get to see her in the new cape.
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