Adam Rippon becomes first openly gay winner of “Dancing with the Stars”
The Olympic figure skater beat Tonya Harding and Josh Norman to win the season
Adam Rippon danced his way to victory on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars Monday night, becoming the show’s first openly gay winner.
Only a few months after becoming one of the first openly gay medal winners at the Winter Olympics, figure skater Rippon and his partner Jenna Johnson won the Athletes edition of the dance competition, beating former figure skater Tonya Harding and NFL cornerback Josh Norman.
Being described as “the wonder twins of dance,” Rippon and Johnson won with a jazz number to “Anything You Can Do” from Annie Get Your Gun, and a contemporary dance to “Scooby Doo Pa Pa” by DJ Kass.
A frontrunner for the entire run of the special competition, Rippon was told by panelist Carrie Ann Inaba that he was “born to do this show” when they performed their first number of RuPaul’s “Sissy that Walk.”
Rippon is known for not only being a bronze medalist in figure skating but also for his outspoken protest of the Trump administration. Earlier this year he called out the choice of Vice President Mike Pence to lead the U.S. Winter Olympics delegation, decrying his alleged past support for conversion therapy.
He also rejected an invitation to the White House, previously explaining that he would not visit somewhere that he was “not wanted.”
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