In his final guest blog for ET this season, the pro dancer reflects on his incredible journey with the former 'Bachelorette' star.
Throughout season 28, pro dancer Alan Bersten guest blogged about his experience on Dancing With the Stars with his celeb partner, Hannah Brown, for ET. In his final post this season, he discusses everything from winning the mirrorball to how he and Hannah plan to stay in touch.
HANNAH AND I WON THE MIRRORBALL!!!! I think it’s safe to say I have never been this excited. We worked so hard for this, and to finally get it is a dream come true.
I've had some time to process it all now and, honestly, I still can't even believe it!!!! What is my life right now?! I am so thankful and grateful for this amazing opportunity. Thank you to everyone at Dancing With the Stars, thank you to everyone who has supported Hannah and I and, most importantly, thank you to Hannah for never giving up and doing your best and just inspiring me every day!!!
Being up on that stage and hearing our names called out as the winners -- I can't put into words how I was feeling. I just couldn't believe it! It was something that you can't dream up, and we're both so lucky to have been able to feel that amazing moment in the ballroom.
As soon as the show wrapped and the cameras turned off, Hannah and I did our "wwwooooooooo!" I think I also just kept saying over and over again, "I can't believe this. I can't believe this. We did it!"
My parents were also in the audience that night, so I got to cry tears of joy with them, which was very special. I am so happy I was able to share this experience with my family and all of my friends. Val Chmerkovskiy even lifted me up by himself at one point!!! That is strength, and that's a true friend.
I'm so happy Sky Brown was at the show as well, to cheer us on. If you watched Dancing With the Stars: Juniors, then you know she was crowned the champion with her partner, JT Church, and I was their mentor. We all received mirrorballs for Juniors, so I'm very excited to now have my two trophies next to each other.
I'm putting my new mirrorball in my bed because I'm going to cuddle with it for a while! But I think I'm actually going to make a little stand for both of them :) And Hannah said she is going to put hers next to her bed.
Hannah and I had a special partnership this season. We were such good friends and loved going to get food after rehearsals and just hanging out! I'm very lucky to have had Hannah as my partner. Looking back on this season, I'm happy we created some pretty special dances. If I had to pick a few of our top moments on the show together, I'd say our Viennese Waltz to Taylor Swift's "Lover" was very special to me, and our Quickstep to Elle King's "American Girl" made me feel like we had a great shot at winning!
But our freestyle to Alicia Keys' "Girl on Fire" and Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" (which we performed in the finale), is probably my favorite dance I ever created! It all came together so nicely, thanks to the creative team, costume department, producers and all of the crew. And I guess one more moment would be the moment we won!!!!!!!!! I think you can tell by my face I was a little shocked!
The finale was obviously so much fun, and then it was Thanksgiving, so both Hannah and I got to go home for that. But now that the holiday is over, we are going to meet up and celebrate! After that, the Dancing With the Stars -- Live Tour 2020 kicks off in January. The tour is going to be so much fun! I can't wait to dance on stage with Hannah again (at the Jan. 28 show in New York City) and really celebrate such an incredible season. I would love for her to come to more cities!!!! Hopefully Hannah's schedule allows her to join more.
I think Hannah and I are going to be lifelong friends. I'm excited to see what's in store for our friendship, and hopefully we find a way to keep dancing with each other!
Before I go, I want to take a second to thank the fans (guys, we did it!!!!) and praise all the finalists. Kel Mitchell and Witney Carson, Ally Brooke and Sasha Farber and Lauren Alaina and Gleb Savchenko: You were incredible all season, and each of you had such an incredible freestyle!
Hannah and I are so lucky to have won, and I think it’s because we had such a good relationship with each other and the fans saw that. We had some incredible dances, and we are so lucky we got to share this experience with all the fans! Thank you to everyone who has supported not only me but Hannah as well throughout this incredible journey.
This has meant the world to me, and you don't know how happy I am. It's all because of you guys! So, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for making my dreams come true!! I can't wait to see everyone on tour and celebrate with you guys. #TeamAlanbamaHannah forever!
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