Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Rhys McClenaghan and Laura Nolan crowned Dancing with the Stars champions

17/03/2025

After 11 spectacular shows filled with glitz and glamour, highs and lows and captivating dances along the way, Rhys McClenaghan and his pro partner Laura Nolan have been crowned the winners of Dancing with the Stars 2025.

Commenting on winning series 8 and taking home the coveted Glitterball trophy, Rhys said: I don't have any words!

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 Woolley and Alex Vladimirov and Rhys McClenaghan and Laura Nolan.

The grand finale of series eight of Dancing with the Stars opened with a dazzling number from the pro-dancers, finalists and judges to Everybody Dance by Cedric Gervais x Franklin feat. Nile Rodgers.

The competition kicked in as the couples took to the floor for their first dance of the evening; the Judges' Choice, which tasked each couple with performing a routine from a previous week.

First on the floor tonight was Mrs. Brown's Boys actor, Danny O'Carroll and his partner Salome Chachua. The pair danced their Charleston from week two to Don't Blame it On Me by Michael Bubl .

Judge Loraine Barry said: I feel the trust between you and Salome has built up. You have started a brilliant final tonight.

Judge Arthur Gourounlian said: You absolutely smashed it, you took it to another level. That was electrifying, exhilarating and simply unforgettable.

Judge Brian Redmond said: More fluid, more energetic, more entertainment, great start!

Judge Karen Byrne said: You deserve your place in the final. It was slick, you looked like you were enjoying yourself!

Danny and Salome scored 39 points from the judges.

Next up, Taekwondo athlete, Jack Woolley and his pro-partner Alex Vladimirov threw it back to week five with their Dedicated Dance to Jack's friend Kellie Harrington: an American Smooth to Grace by The Wolfe Tones.

Arthur said: Every week you come here you shine bright. This wasn't just a great dance, this will go down in DWTS history as the best ever! Normally I would say J'adore, but for the weekend that's in it I will say: is gr liom!

Brian said: Big smiley head on me! I liked this dance the first time around but I absolutely lvoed it tonight.

Karen said: You really move people with this dance. I'm still not the better of seeing you dance to this song again. I feel this dance sums up your journey, and signifies such an amazing partnership that you and Alex have.

Loraine said: It was gentle, pure and heartwarming. This dance will always be an iconic performance on Dancing with the Stars.

Jack and Alex scored 40 points from the judges.

Social media star Kayleigh Trappe and her partner Ervinas Merfeldas were hoping to recapture the judges' adoration a second time around with their routine from Love Week, a Salsa to Christina Aguilera's Let There Be Love.

Brian said: Tonight, it's all or nothing and you've certainly come out giving it your all. You are certainly fighting and deserving of this place in the final.

Karen said: This dance shows how much you've grown. I think you should be so proud of yourself, you've grown immensely the two of you together.

Loraine said: Tonight you've come out shining. You've gone into those lifts with less fear. This is a good night for you.

Arthur: To me you have found your wings and you are flying. You have proved that you belong here in the final. I'm so beyond proud of you.

Kayleigh and Ervinas scored 38 points from the judges.

Olympic gymnast Rhys McClenaghan reprised his Movie Week role of Spider-Man, as he and his professional partner Laura Nolan danced the Charleston to the iconic theme tune.

Karen said: You're the real life Irish Spiderman! This routine from beginning to end, it was pure and utter perfection.

Loraine said: Absolutely exhilarating from start to finish. Is there any chance they can do it again?

Arthur said: Your power is mesmerising. From gymnast to dancer, to me you have movement and rhythm in your DNA!

Brian said: You played the hero tonight but you're also an Olympic champion. You have become a real life superhero. Exceptional.

Rhys and Laura scored 40 points from the judges.

After the voting lines opened, it was down to business, as each couple performed their Showdance a freestyle performance that allowed them to combine different dance styles and showcase the creativity and skills they developed throughout their Dancing with the Stars journey.

Danny O'Carroll and Salome Chachua danced to Rock this Party by Bob Sinclair.

Loraine said: You rocked it, you got the party going. That was truly slick.

Arthur said: You have proven time and time again you're a force to be reckoned with. This is an incredible party I'm delighted to have been a part of.

Brian said: The Showdance is generally about summing up your journey on the show, but I think you summed yourself up as a person. It was full of determination, character and pure honest hard work.

Karen said: I feel you've set the standard now for the Showdances.

Danny and Salome scored a total of 37 from the judges.

Jack Woolley and Alex Vladimirov performed to Years & Years' version of Lady Gaga's anthem The Edge of Glory.

Arthur said: I truly have no words left to say. You will be remembered forever on this show.

Brian said: You've got that skillset, that Taekwondo athlete in you, and you've waited until the final to show us that. I clapped all the way through it, I don't think I've ever done that! You have been phenomenal.

Karen said: We expected it to be unbelievable. It was brilliant!

Loraine: There was so much electricity. Everything means the world to you, you give it your all. I can't believe you put in so much salsa, tan
LINK: https://about.rte.ie/2025/03/17/rhys-mcclenaghan-and-laura-nolan-crown...
See more stories from rte

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

13/08/2026

ASG Adds Eran Binyamin Zeitoun as Senior Technical Program Manager

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

Vinten To Feature Manual, Robotic Camera Support Offerings At IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

SMPTE Unveils IBC 2026 Plans

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

IP Showcase on the Water Announces Schedule for IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

Spectrum, Optimum Ink New Deals for News Carriage and Ads

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

IAB Tech Lab Updates Privacy Standards

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/08/2026

Suitest Highlights New AI-Powered Device Testing and Qual...

Suitest's Test Automation Platform Simplifies Video Quality Assurance, Monitoring, and Device Certification Across the OTT Ecosystem At IBC2026, Suitest, a...

13/08/2026

Cinegy showcases powerful, agile, cost-effective media so...

Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, will have its key software solutions ready to demonstrate at SET Expo 2026 (18 20...

13/08/2026

Scripps Research establishes endowed chair honoring Peter K. Vogt, influential pioneer in cancer research

Scripps Research has established the Peter K. Vogt Endowed Chair, a new faculty ...

13/08/2026

New research offers fresh insights for how to make better vaccines

LA JOLLA, CA-A vaccine's molecular structure plays a key role in determining how the immune system responds and prepares to protect the body from future exp...

12/08/2026

Op-Ed: The Versioning Playbook - How Rights Holders are Getting More From Live Events

Traditional live sports production has focused on creating the best possible pro...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: FOR-A to Demonstrate Production and Processing Solutions

FOR-A will showcase a range of broadcast and production products at IBC2026 (Stand 2.B53, Amsterdam RAI, September 11-14), including software-based switching, A...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: AMWA and EBU to Demo NMOS BCP-008 Multi-Vendor IP Status Reporting

The Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and EBU will host live demonstrations of NMOS BCP-008 Minimum Status Reporting at IBC2026 (September 11-14) on th...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: Dalet Launches Solution Suites for Media Production and Archive Management

Dalet has announced Dalet Solution Suites, a portfolio of cloud-native solutions...

12/08/2026

Net Insight Enables Centralized Remote Production of Blinkfestivalen 2026 for NRK

Net Insight has announced that DMC Production Norway has selected its Open Live ...

12/08/2026

Zixi Appoints Alyson Stewart as Senior Director of Sales

Zixi has appointed Alyson Stewart as Senior Director of Sales. Stewart will be responsible for direct sales and partnerships, with a focus on broadcasters, medi...

12/08/2026

LiveU Powers Host Broadcast Operations at 2026 Glasgow Games

LiveU's LU900Q intelligent production unit was deployed as part of the host broadcast operation for the Games in Glasgow (July 23-August 2, 2026). Host broa...

12/08/2026

Disney+ and ESPN Acquire Multi-Year Formula E Rights Beginning 2026/27 Season

Disney , ESPN, and Formula E have announced a multi-year deal bringing all Formula E races to Disney and ESPN in the U.S. and to Disney in most international...

12/08/2026

PSSI Launches X-LIVE Managed Service for Live Event Transmission

PSSI has launched X-LIVE, a managed service offering dedicated engineering resources and Appear encoding infrastructure for live event signal processing and tra...

12/08/2026

MoonPay X Games League Draws 18.3 Million Viewers in Inaugural Summer Season

The inaugural MoonPay X Games League Summer Season reached 18.3 million unique live viewers across three stops on ABC and ESPN, a 78.5% increase compared to the...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: BBright Adds RIST Support to IP-Gateway

BBright will showcase an expanded IP-Gateway at IBC2026, adding support for all RIST profiles to its existing support for MPEG Transport Stream over IP with SMP...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: BBright Adds EBU OGraf Graphics Support to UHD and ST 2110 Playout Platform

BBright will demonstrate EBU OGraf animated graphics support in its software-bas...

12/08/2026

Interra Systems to Showcase QC and Monitoring Solutions at SET Expo 2026

Interra Systems will demonstrate its ORION, BATON, BATON Captions, and VEGA solutions at SET Expo 2026 (August 17-20, Distrito Anhembi, S o Paulo) at partner Li...

12/08/2026

DPA Microphones Appoints Raul Contreras as West Coast Regional Sales Manager

DPA Microphones has appointed Raul Contreras as West Coast Regional Sales Manager. In the role, Contreras will oversee sales and customer relationships througho...

12/08/2026

Save the Date: SVG LIVE! Returns to LA Nov. 10 to Spotlight Sports & Entertainment Production

Live spectacles ranging from the Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup to the Oscars and...

12/08/2026

Love, Separation, and the Cost of Comfort in How to Divorce During the War

Writer-Director Andrius Bla evi ius and crew attend the premiere of How to Divorce During the War at The Ray Theatre on January 26, 2026, in Park City, UT. (P...

12/08/2026

SSL 360 gets a major update

Enhanced DAW & plug-in control for the UC1, UF8 and UF1 The software that powers SSL's range of control surfaces has just received a major update that d...

12/08/2026

Triton Audio launch the Tilt EQ

In-line preamp features one-knob EQ In addition to their range of in-line preamps, Triton Audio recently managed to squeeze a compressor into an enclosure t...

12/08/2026

AudioRoute from Arvital Audio

Captures system audio with or without a DAW Depending on your setup, capturing system audio in a DAW can be a tedious process, so much so that Arvital Audio...

12/08/2026

2026 NATIONAL NAIDOC AWARDS TO BROADCAST ON NITV LIVE AND DIRECT FROM MPARNTWE

2026 NATIONAL NAIDOC AWARDS TO BROADCAST ON NITV LIVE AND DIRECT FROM MPARNTWE 12 August, 2026 Media releases First Nations excellence will be celebrated l...

12/08/2026

More than six million sports fans stay with SBS for Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift

More than six million sports fans stay with SBS for Tour de France and Tour de F...

12/08/2026

Nielsen Introduces Groundbreaking Streaming Ad Measurement in Brazil

Nielsen is cementing Digital Ad Intel as the new go-to currency for digital ad intelligence in Brazil-now with streaming monitoring in the mix. S o Paulo, Augu...

12/08/2026

LPTV Advocates Petition FCC for Voluntary 5G Broadcasts

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Tubi Media Group Inks Content Discovery Deal with Gracenote

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Matrox Video Showcases IP-Based and Software-Defined Tech...

As Matrox Video celebrates 50 years of trusted innovation, the company will showcase its portfolio of interoperable IP technologies and software-defined innovat...

12/08/2026

SMPTE Showcases AI and Open Media Workflows and Industry...

SMPTE, the home of media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced a program of expert-led sessions, professional workshops and networking eve...

12/08/2026

Berklee Announces Full Details for Inaugural Block Party, a Music Festival Next to Fenway Park

Berklee Announces Full Details for Inaugural Block Party, a Music Festival Next ...

12/08/2026

ACLU Requests ABC Station Probe Documents from FCC

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Roger Keating To Retire from Hearst Television

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Netflix Closes U.S. Upfronts, Nearly Doubles Ad Commitments

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

CBS Pittsburgh Debuts New AR/VR News Studio

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Matthews Intros T-Go Extreme Rigging Solutions

Matthews Studio Equipment introduces T-Go Mounting Solutions extreme camera rigging systems, engineered for the most demanding environments in motion picture pr...

12/08/2026

Anton Bauers EDEN Becomes Only Mobile Power Station in it...

Anton/Bauer, a Videndum brand and the industry leader in mobile power solutions for broadcast and cinematic production, announces that the EDEN Mobile Power Sta...

12/08/2026

TAG Video Systems Cuts Hardware Costs for Customers with...

TAG Video Systems, the global leader in software-based IP monitoring and multiviewer solutions, today announced a memory usage optimization that lowers the tota...

12/08/2026

Unified Streaming Launches Trusted Media - C2PA in Dynami...

Unified Streaming announces Trusted Media, a new solution that enables broadcasters, streaming platforms, and premium content owners to attach verifiable authen...

12/08/2026

Tedial Powers the AI-Driven Media Supply Chain at IBC 202...

Combining intelligent automation, composable business services and user-centric experiences The media industry is entering a new phase where AI intelligence is...

12/08/2026

DPA Microphones Appoints Raul Contreras as West Coast Reg...

DPA Microphones welcomes Raul Contreras as its new West Coast Regional Sales Manager. In this role, Contreras will oversee sales and customer relationships thro...