Alix Earle’s ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Trajectory, As Seen Through Jenna Johnson’s Eyes

The professional dancer has had a front row seat to the content creator’s growth on the dance floor this season.

Alix Earle / Maya Dehlin Spach/Getty Images

With tomorrow night’s Dancing With the Stars season finale on the horizon, we’re all pondering the same question: who will take home Season 34’s coveted Mirrorball Trophy?

Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy are just one of the final five duos vying for the title. The fan favorites received their first perfect score during Week 9 of the competition for their Foxtrot to “Singin' in the Rain.” Last week, the content creator and professional dancer racked up a second perfect score, this time for their Viennese Waltz to “Purple Rain.”

And while those dances earned a perfect score from the panel of judges, there’s another piece of choreography that ranks exceptionally highly according to Jenna Johnson, a fellow DWTS pro and Chmerkovskiy’s wife. She says the duo’s Paso Doble to Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer,” which aired during Week 8 of the competition, has been their best performance yet.

“ I just feel like she gained this newfound confidence in herself and I had never seen her take the ballroom floor like she did that night,” Johnson tells SI Lifestyle of Earle. “And I think it was a real big like ‘aha moment’ for her as well. I just love the person, the dancer she’s transforming into. It’s been so beautiful to see.”

That evening, Earle and Chmerkovskiy earned a 39/40 from the panel of judges, including guest judge Flavor Flav, following their performance. After the show, rapper Flavor Flav told People he intended to hold up a “10” cue card and mistakenly reached for the “9,” keeping the pair from receiving their first perfect score on the season.

While Johnson’s own journey to the Mirrorball Trophy was cut short this season (she and actor Corey Feldman were eliminated during Week 2 of the competition), the professional dancer and choreographer already has her sights set on three different celebrities for next year’s casting. She divulged them exclusively to SI Lifestyle here.

Tune in to the three-hour Dancing With the Stars finale tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 25, starting at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. In addition to Earle and Chmerkovskiy, Dylan Efron and Daniella Karagach, Elaine Hendrix and Alan Bersten, Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa, and Robert Irwin and Witney Carson will each perform three different dances before the season’s winning duo is crowned.

Find each pair’s judges’ choice and freestyle songs for the evening—as well as everything else you need to know leading up to tomorrow night’s season finale—here.

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