Adele Zakeman wins The Next Pro after a compressed finale

SOT: Brought to You by Nutella (DWTS: The Next Pro 108)

The finale tests whether a new dance competition can create meaningful opportunities when finalists have only three days to prepare.

3 key takeaways

1Adele Zakeman’s samba and paso-based freestyle best matched her strengths and the show’s theatrical ambitions.
2Selena Hamilton and AJ Preacher delivered distinct, technically strong performances despite uneven energy and storytelling.
3The competition’s first season gave all three finalists visibility, experience, and a possible path to larger opportunities.

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Adele Zakeman and Nev Schulman’s samba earns the strongest praise for its commitment, musical fit, entertainment value, and command of the style.

The brief

Danielle and Val assess whether Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro worked as a live-studio experiment, praising its emerging dancers and asking whether the format deserves another season.

The finale’s compressed schedule creates the central tension: each finalist must deliver a favorite style and a freestyle after only three days of rehearsal with celebrity partners.

Selena Hamilton brings polish and performance instinct to her jive and freestyle, while AJ Preacher shows teaching skill and theatrical ambition, though both routines lose some energy or variation.

Adele Zakeman’s samba with Nev Schulman wins the hosts over through commitment, musical fit, and entertainment value; her paso-based freestyle doubles down on those strengths with pyro.

Adele takes the title ahead of AJ and Selena, and the hosts argue that the result reflects not just one finale but the opportunities the competition created for all three dancers.