'Dancing With the Stars' 2015 After Party: Rumer Willis’ Trophy for ‘Everyone Who Thought They Weren’t Good Enough'
Emotions run high as this season comes to a close with Rumer Willis winning.
— -- After season 20 of "Dancing with the Stars" came to a close Tuesday night with Rumer Willis being crowned the winner, beating out Noah Galloway and Riker Lynch for the coveted mirror ball trophy, all the stars traveled from Los Angeles overnight to join "Good Morning America" in Times Square Wednesday morning for an All-Stars After Party.
Willis, 26, was emotional while discussing her win, saying that the most incredible thing about being on “DWTS” was the “incredible response” she received from people after sharing her story about being bullied.
“That’s who this mirror ball is for, honestly,” she explained on “GMA” today. “It’s for everyone who ever felt like they weren’t good enough or felt like they couldn’t accomplish something because you can. And even if you don’t feel like you’re beautiful every day or feel like you look right or you could do something, if you work hard and put your whole heart into it, you totally can.”
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Willis emerged as an early favorite when she took the lead with in the season premiere with an impressive foxtrot with partner Val Chmerkovskiy, and she continued to impress judges, scoring at or near the top of the leaderboard consistently.
“It’s incredible,” she said. “I never thought in a million years that I would be capable of anything like that, and this whole experience and being able to be partnered with Val has shown me that anyone is capable of doing anything. You just have to have the willingness to go out and try it.”
Chmerkovskiy was equally impressed with Willis’ skills on the dance floor and her overall willingness to enter the daunting routines with an open mind.
“The first time I met her there was such a sense of gratitude in her eyes and everything she did and everything that she said to me,” Chmerkovskiy said of his partner. “She was just so excited to do this show … just genuinely enthusiastic for the process. She told me, ‘I just want to learn how to dance and hopefully make new friends. That’s all I want.’”
And 10 weeks later, he added, “we got a trophy and it just feels amazing.”
Although he'd made it to the finals before, this is Chmerkovskiy's first win.
Willis’ parents, actors Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, surprised her with a special video they had recorded congratulating their daughter on all her "Dancing" success.
“You did it kid and I love you,” Moore said. “You worked so hard. I am so proud of you.”
“Get back out there,” said Bruce Willis.
But Willis wasn't the only finalist that shined this season. Ryker Lynch really impressed head judge Len Goodman, who called him “Fred Astaire with a modern flair.”
“I think Allison [Holker] really brought that to the table,” Lynch said of his professional partner. “The whole thing was trying to be traditional but come up with something new at the same time. Allison was so brilliant at that—keeping it traditional but adding our flair on top of it.”
And as for Noah Galloway’s wedding plans after he popped the question to girlfriend Jamie Boyd on “DWTS,” he said, “We don’t have a date yet.”
“We wanted to get through the show and now we’re done so we need to get working on that,” the Army veteran explained. “She’s prettier than that mirror ball trophy.”
Willis also has exciting future plans in the works. She’s recording an album, which the “DWTS” viewers got a taste of when she and her partner Chmerkovskiy re-recorded Britney Spears’ “Toxic” for one of their freestyles, with Willis singing vocals and Chmerkovskiy playing the violin.
“Yeah, it’s something I’ve been working on and off, but it was a great way I think to kind of kick that off,” she said of their rendition of the song. “I’m really excited that that was the way I got enter the singing world."