DWTS Finalist Credits Pro Partner for Helping Her Lose ‘Emotional Baggage’

dwts

Heavy/ABC A 'Dancing with the Stars" alum spoke out.

Dancing With the Stars season 32 finalist Alyson Hannigan didn’t win the mirrorball trophy, but she won back her confidence.

After landing in fifth place in the ABC celebrity ballroom competition, the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” alum revealed that she had a major transformation while on the show – and it wasn’t just a change in her body.

Here’s what you need to know:


Alyson Hannigan Said She Lost 20 Pounds But It Wasn’t Just Body Weight

 

In an Instagram post shared days after the DWTS season 32 finale, Hannigan, 49, posed in side-by-side by cast photos. The first photo showed her in a fringed, silver dress at the start of the DWTS season. The second photo showed her three months later after competing in “Dancing with the Stars.”

Hannigan captioned the photo to thank her pro partner, Sasha Farber, for helping her work through everything on the dance floor.

“The before and after says it all.” Hannigan captioned the photos. “ I lost 20 pounds of both weight and emotional baggage during my time on @dancingwiththestars. I can’t thank @sashafarber1 enough for helping me shed my insecurities and getting me to the confident and strong place I am today!”

Farber also shared the photos as he congratulated Hannigan on all she had done during the competition. “I wanted to post this picture and celebrate, how proud and hard-working my partner was during the season!!!!” the pro dancer wrote. “I believe dance is the best way to exercise stimulate the brain and have fun in the process!!!!! I call it ‘BodyBySasha’ who wants to sign up !!!!!”

Several fans reacted to note that Hannigan looked beautiful in both the “before” and “after” photos.

“Dance is SO much fun to transform your body!! Alyson looks beautiful before but sculpted after!!” wrote fellow DWTS alum Candace Cameron Bure.

“You look beautiful in both but your smile is so bright in the second. I can see your happiness!!” another fan wrote.


Sasha Farber Said He Feels Like a Winner Due to Alyson Hannigan’s Success in the Ballroom

Farber has competed in 11 seasons of DWTS. The Australian-American pro dancer has been partnered with Selma Blair, Mary Lou Retton, and even Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi. But he has yet to win the mirrorball trophy. Still, Farber was like a proud papa following his season with Hannigan.

Of finale week, he told Entertainment Tonight rehearsals were stressful. “But there were times where we would be dancing and we would stop and I would just look at her and I would, like, hug her,” Farber added.  He also shared that they would take a pause and express gratitude over making it so far. “It was, ‘There’s no one going home and we’ve made it.’ And she’s made it, and she’s actually lost 20 pounds!” Farber said.

Hannigan noted that most of the pounds she lost were “baggage” that she carried around with her going into the coemption. “It was all emotions. It was all insecurities. I’m sure 15 pounds of it was insecurities,” she told the outlet.

While Hannigan also expressed hope that she would help Farber score his first mirrorball trophy, he said he already had enough given the actress’s transformation of  both mind and body.  “I feel like I’ve won the mirrorball already to have her, you know,” the DWTS pro said. “She’s lost 20 pounds! She came in here, and she was shy. She’s never danced before. She was unconfident. And now, you know, she stands on her own two feet — strong, powerful.”

READ NEXT: DWTS Alum Shares Heartbreaking Tribute to Her Famous Father