It’s been a long road to the finals for Simon Barnett and his partner Vanessa Cole, but tonight the radio host has finally come out on top!
Simon has been crowned the ultimate winner of Dancing with the Stars NZ, capping off eight weeks of intense competition. The Bachelor NZ‘s Chrystal Chenery finished second, leaving Outrageous Fortune star Siobhan Marshall in third at the end of tonight’s final.
While Simon got off to a rough start on the show with a less-than-impressive cha-cha, the More FM presenter has only gotten better with each performance.
In the second week of the competition, he pulled off an intense tango that rocketed him to the top of the leaderboard, marking him as one to watch – even the pain of a dislocated knee couldn’t stop him!
The judges loved his easy partnership with pro partner Vanessa Cole, who pushed him to new heights with each dance.
Simon achieved the first perfect 10 score of the season from Candy Lane after his electrifying Rocky-inspired pasodoble during Movie Night, and that wasn’t the only 10 he would get throughout the competition!
In the final, despite forgetting part of his first dance of the night, Simon battled through with partner Vanessa at his side. The duo’s second dance, a repeat of their crowd-pleasing pasodoble from Movie Night, helped them gain a perfect score and saw them take the lead.
“It’s a mission, you know,” Simon said after his big win, looking visibly emotional as he clutched the coveted mirror ball trophy.
“The training, eight to ten hours a day …. and my family … I’m enormously thankful for my wife,” he added, holding back the tears and joking about losing his “man card”.
Congratulations to Simon on winning this season of Dancing with the Stars NZ!
