Actor J.R. Martinez won the competition with over 9 million votes. A first time in Dancing with the Stars history were the winner was millions ahead in votes by the runner up. J.R. Martinez won over reality TV star Rob Kardashian and actress Ricki Lake who took 2nd and 3rd place, respectively.
Overview
Nine professional partners—Derek Hough, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Cheryl Burke, Tony Dovolani, Mark Ballas, Lacey Schwimmer, Karina Smirnoff, Anna Trebunskaya, and Kym Johnson—returned this season. Maksim's brother, Valentin Chmerkovskiy, made his debut competing as a professional. Peta Murgatroyd and Tristan MacManus, part of season 12's troupe of dancers, also became professional partners for the first time. Louis van Amstel did not compete as a professional, but participated in a new segment called "Ballroom Battles", which would be canceled on November 7. The troupe also returns with three returning troupe members, Teddy Volynets, Kiki Nyemchek, and Oksana Dmytrenko, and 3 new members, Sasha Farber, Sharna Burgess, and Dasha Chesnokova. This is also the first season where none of the original pros from season one competed.
The celebrity cast was revealed during an episode of Bachelor Pad on August 28, 2011. The twelve professionals were revealed on August 31, 2011 during Good Morning America. Ryan O'Neal was planning on competing as a celebrity, but did not feel he was up to it after a recent knee surgery and so Carson Kressley stepped in to replace him. O'Neal hopes to compete in a future season.
From the start, controversy erupted over the inclusion of Chaz Bono, the child of famous parents Sonny and Cher. His appearance resulted in backlash from the conservative supporters of the show, who even threatened to boycott due to his transgender status. Despite the criticism, Bono has received strong support from the LGBT community. It was stated in LGBT Weekly that "Bono has become the transgender community"s living symbol of hope, strength and defiance against vitriolic hate. When ABC Television announced that Bono would appear on DWTS, he faced vile slurs and death threats from a group of trans-phobic women and men". The controversy did lead producers to hire extra security protection for his time on the show.
Couples
The 12 celebrities and professional dancers who competed were:
Unless indicated otherwise, individual judges scores in the charts below (given in parentheses) are listed in this order from left to right: Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli.
The dance troupe consists of six dancers, plus the first eliminated male and female pros, who this season were Val Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd. They are also sometimes joined by pros from other seasons (such as Louis Van Amstel, who danced with the troupe on the Week 4 competition show).
Sharna Burgess
Dasha Chesnokova
Oksana Dmytrenko
Sasha Farber
Kiki Nyemchek
Ted Volynets
Date
Dance
Song(s)
September 20, 2011
Jive
"Watch Me Move""Fefe Dobson
October 4, 2011
Viennese Waltz
"Gone with the Wind" Theme
October 11, 2011
Paso Doble Foxtrot
"Cowboy/Star Wars" Theme "Butch Cassidy" Theme
October 17, 2011
Rumba Samba Cha-cha-cha
"Eternal Flame" "Walk Like an Egyptian" "Manic Monday"
October 18, 2011
Cha-cha-cha
"Like a Virgin / Like a Prayer"
November 8, 2011
Foxtrot
"More""Andrea Boccelli
The dance during the October 4 results show was accompanied by additional pros Val Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd
Ratings
U.S. Nielsen ratings
Episode
Airdate
Rating/Share (18-49)
Viewers (millions)
Performance Show 1
September 19, 2011
4.0/10
19.03
Meet the Cast
September 20, 2011
2.1/6
10.97
Results Show 1
September 20, 2011
3.6/9
14.79
Performance Show 2
September 26, 2011
3.3/8
16.23
Special
September 27, 2011
1.9/5
9.49
Results Show 2
September 27, 2011
2.9/7
14.39
Performance Show 3
October 3, 2011
3.1/8
16.40
Special
October 4, 2011
1.7/5
9.11
Results Show Show 3
October 4, 2011
2.8/7
14.80
Performance Show 4
October 10, 2011
3.1/8
16.30
Results Show 4
October 11, 2011
3.2/8
16.60
Performance Show 5
October 17, 2011
3.2/8
17.47
Results Show 5
October 18, 2011
2.6/6
13.50
Performance Show 6
October 24, 2011
3.1/8
16.99
Results Show 6
October 25, 2011
2.6/7
14.10
Performance Show 7
October 31, 2011
2.8/8
16.30
Results Show 7
November 1, 2011
2.8/7
15.21
Performance Show 8
November 7, 2011
3.4/8
18.03
Results Show 8
November 8, 2011
2.7/7
14.80
Performance Show 9
November 14, 2011
3.4/8
18.50
Results Show 9
November 15, 2011
2.7/7
15.15
Performance Show 10
November 21, 2011
3.5/9
19.61
Final Results Show
November 22, 2011
4.1/11
19.45
Broadcast
Season 13 premiered September 19, 2011 on ABC aring on Monday at 8:00 PM. The performance show was two hours each Monday from 8:00-10:00. The results show was each Tuesday from 9:00-10:00. The season finale aired Tuesday November 22, 2011.