Dancing with the Stars has a new set of mirrorball-trophy champions.

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NFL player Donald Driver and his professional partner Peta Murgatroyd were crowned Dancing with the Stars' fourteenth-season ballroom winners during Tuesday night's live finale results show on ABC.

"Amazing! Oh! All of this, this is awesome. Thank you so much!" an overwhelmed Driver told Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron upon his victory amidst all the hype and celebration.

Murgatroyd was equally as thrilled with their big win considering she was the first professional and celebrity pairing ousted from the reality dancing competition's previous season -- which marked the first time she took the Dancing with the Stars stage as a professional dancer after being a member of the show's supplemental dance troupe.

Driver and Murgatroyd were declared Dancing with the Stars' champions based on the combination of their share of the judges' scoring points from Monday and Tuesday night's three finale performance rounds and their share of the home viewer votes that were cast immediately after Monday's two initial rounds.

Opera singer Katherine Jenkins and partner Mark Ballas finished in second place.

"Thank you so much, Mark. You've been -- I can't put into words how much I've loved this. I adore you. Thank you for all your hard work, and thank you to everybody for having me on the show. It's been an absolute dream," Jenkins explained after her runner-up results were announced.

"This has been a great season for me, and I've had a wonderful time working with Katherine. She's an angel, and Donald is a perfect gentleman. Congratulations my man," Ballas added.

Telenovela star William Levy and partner Cheryl Burke claimed third place.

"It was a great, amazing experience. I thank you guys for all you have done for us. I'm going to miss all of you, man. I'm going to miss all of you! I love you," Levy said.

"I want to thank Cheryl for being so patient with me and teaching me all the dances and getting me through this little by little. That's what I needed as a partner, and she was all of that. It's not about winning the mirrorball for me, it's about winning what I've been winning all this time -- good relationships and a good time. This show has definitely been one of the greatest experiences of my life."

Driver and Murgatroyd received 59 out of 60 possible points for their two Monday night routines from Dancing with the Stars judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.

During Monday night's episode, the Top 3 finalists each performed two individual ballroom routines -- a judges' pick dance, which required the couples to each perform a new routine to new music in a style the judges would've liked to see the stars improve upon, and a freestyle dance.

Driver and Murgatroyd finished the two dances tied for second place on the judges' leaderboard alongside Levy and Burke. Jenkins and Ballas topped Monday night's leaderboard in first place after receiving 60 total points from the judges for both of their solid routines.

Tuesday night's finale broadcast featured the three remaining couples each performing one last quickly-prepared dance in the hopes of bettering their original scores. The couples were not able to learn or practice with the music for their routines until 24 hours prior to taking the floor.

Although the Top 3 were hoping to gain an edge in the competition by performing stellar last routines for Dancing with the Stars' judges, their third finale performances made little difference due to the fact they all earned perfect scores of 30 out of 30 possible points. Driver and Murgatroyd danced the cha cha, Levy and Burke performed a salsa routine, and Jenkins and Ballas danced a jive.

The scores all three couples received from the judges for their final dances combined with their prior Monday night judges' total scores -- which, when tallied, were only within one point of each other and put Jenkins and Ballas in first place with 90 out of 90 possible points -- and the home-viewer votes cast immediately following Monday night's show ultimately determined Driver and Murgatroyd's victory.

Dancing with the Stars' fourteenth-season champs and Levy and Burke tied for second place overall on the combined two-night judging leaderboard with 89 total points.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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