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Samuel Johnson wins Dancing with the Stars 2019

$50,000 prize goes towards the Love Your Sister charity after actor Sam Johnson triumphs on the dance floor.

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Actor Sam Johnson has won the series title of Dancing with the Stars, with a $50,000 prize going towards the Love Your Sister charity.

Johnson took out the prize despite singer and drag artiste Courtney Act finishing on top of the leaderboard.

But once viewer votes were added the Gold Logie winner proved unbeatable with blogger Constance Hall finishing third.

Judge Sharna Burgess said, “It’s magical what you’ve done this season, especially you Jorja. Samuel, you wear your heart on your sleeve. You’re real, you’re raw and the ultimate showman.”

“Holy smokes,” Johnson said as he handed the trophy over to his partner; “Jorja must hold this because she’s the real dancer here.”

The win comes despite him controversially telling his supporters not to vote for him through the network endorsed SMS phone line – he later reversed that request.

The series had not been without its challenges, under siege from Nine and Seven juggernauts and illness hitting host Grant Denyer. TV presenter Jimmy Rees was also forced to withdraw for family reasons.

Yet 10 and producers Warner Bros. Studios / BBC Studios have won high praise for the Live revived brand, hosts Amanda Keller & Grant Denyer and three new judges in Craig Revel Horwood, Sharna Burgess and Tristan MacManus.

28 Responses

  1. The result didn’t worry me greatly either, on the one had you had Courtney who knew her way around a stage and live audience due to all her cabaret work etc., and Samuel who didn’t. In the end Samuel was the most improved so deserved to win on the other hand Courtney blew the roof off the place week in and week out and deserved to win. The judges thought they were close after all, there was one point between them tied at 29 each on the encore dance and 30/29 on the freestyle, in all honesty I thought Samuel’s Freestyle was better because he was in view for the whole allotted time, Courtney was hidden by the props at the start for quite a while (put me off a bit).

    N.B: Most improved Samuel is of course relative to Jimmy Rees having to retire and losing Olympia to the audience vote, both of those may have been better if they got to go on, however one of them may have replaced…

    1. Agree with most of that, but Sam has performed on stage for live audiences, and most drama courses have a dance/movement component, so not completely inexperienced.

      1. Fair call, in a way Constance was probably lucky to be there as the rank outsider due to the ones I said going, however I enjoyed what she did as well. In the end it comes down to the dance on the night and the one from the week before as far as viewers go. Courtney has way more experience though even just before that with Aust Decides Eurovision and really she’ll get a boost out of this regardless as it will open more doors. Really wish someone could see the potential for a UK style Blankety Blanks where Paul O’Grady/Lily Savage did it, Courtney could get away with the innuendo’s I think.

        In the end it was a very positive happy show for the whole season and deserved a bigger audience even if just by TEN standards.

  2. As many others have said, the best dancer didn’t win in the end, and Samuel was the first to acknowledge this. He’s a great guy, but Courtney really should have won. I tuned in only occasionally throughout the Channel 7 series, but I watched this one every week and agree with David and everyone else who has commented on how well produced and entertaining it has been. Huge kudos to everyone involved. I hope it’s back next year.

  4. Courtney was robbed by a sob story. Well done, Sam, but it left me disappointed. I’m going to donate $50 to Black Rainbow because they need it more.

  6. Ten did a Fab-U-Lous job with DWTS. Didn’t miss an episode and loved every minute. Contestants were great. Hosts had chemistry. Judges were encouraging and positive. Lighting and staging first class. As a viewer I cheered, laughed and cried. Feel good family friendly TV at it’s finest. I did think Courtney deserved to win. She was consistently the better dancer and oozed showbiz week after week. The judges are the experts on who won for dancing so for me that means Courtney won. The viewers vote on sob story. Sam played that card extremely hard. He didn’t win because of his dancing. Having said that, I really hope Ten give us another series and soon.

  7. Courtney did deserve to win. But Samuel did well and so not complaining. Hope it’s renewed, such a great production. No Ten revive SYTYCD and I’ll be a happy man!

  8. Glad Samuel won and his Instagram post from last week didn’t backfire. Good to see him experience joy after the many challenges he’s faced in life. I reckon the series is fifty fifty to return due to high costs but I hope it does.

  9. It’s a shame and sort of telling that Courtney didn’t deservedly win. But she’s done so much good through this appearance. My traditionally conservative parents even made a donation to her charity after the loss.

  10. This is the first season I’ve ever watched of DWTS and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Although I do think that Courtney was the stand out and should have won, I am happy that Sam did win, as he did clearly improve week on week and gave solid performances. Got to say though, Courtney’s final dance was so cool. Hope this does get a renewal, the increased ratings last night show that people do want to watch this, just a shame that MAFS had such a ratings success for what is a puerile an disgusting show.

  16. Ridiculous ! Courtney was by far, repeat by far the best dancer. Why do these reality shows like DWTS always play these stupid games. The Judges verdict should be final.

  17. Great series and deserved better ratings. Felt it was a very high standard in all facets. Ten hopefully will renew for next year maybe change the timeslot to a more winter period. Samuel was a humble n deserving winner but equally l thought Courtney deserved the win.

  18. Really enjoyed that Finale, the way it was put together was great and flowed very well, only change I would make to the finale is that the contestants encore dance would be the one they got the lowest score on during the series, otherwise it was top notch.

  21. They really need to change how the winners and who is eliminated each week are chosen…I thought it was a dancing contest not a popularity contest…once again the best dancer (by far) has missed out.

  22. I’m really happy that Sam won. He was one of my favourites from the beginning & after all the others got voted off he was the only one left. I was happy with who won I’m a celebrity too so am bracing myself that I probably won’t like who wins MasterChef. Can’t be 3 times lucky.

  23. Didn’t someone already said he was going to probably win because he was a channel 10 person? I remember reading an article like that. I think it was Keira Maguire who said it

    1. Sam isn’t tied to any particular network, yeah he’s worked for 10, but he’s appeared on all networks. Courtney has done a fair but for 10 too : Australian Idol, The Project, Studio 10, and various other shows.

      1. I’m fairly sure Sam announced his ‘retirement’ from acting some time ago to focus on the charity endeavours. So, he’s unlikely to be tied to any network.

  24. Congrats to Sam, it was a great final. I hope they raise the prize money next year, and consider a consolation prize for the runner-ups charity. All talent/reality shows should give a consolation to second place IMO.

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