Heavy Gilles Marini loss DWTS by 'hundreds' of votes.
Fans of “Dancing with the Stars” generally don’t know how close votes are when determining a season winner. In at least one case, however, the final votes were incredibly close. Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke came in second place during season 8, losing to Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas.
Burke and Marini recently revealed a juicy tidbit about how close those season 8 final votes were.
Here’s what you need to know:
Gilles Marini & Cheryl Burke Lost by a Very Small Margin of Votes
Marini joined Burke for the April 14 episode of her podcast, “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans.” They covered a lot of ground during the episode and shared some interesting information about the season 8 finale.
When former “Dancing with the Stars” host Tom Bergeron announced the season 8 winner, he hinted at how close the votes had been. “This is, in eight seasons, our closest-ever finale.”
Bergeron revealed, “When we combined the judges’ scores with your votes, there was less than one percent difference” between the totals of the final two couples.
During the podcast episode with Marini, Burke recalled their “amazing track record” with their scores. She said Marini was “solid” and “obviously, people were putting their money on you” to win.
Burke shared that after the season wrapped, she “was so depressed.” Not long after the finale, she received a call from former showrunner Conrad Green. She recalled he told her “It was so close, Cheryl. Like it was so… Like by hundreds of votes.”
The retired “Dancing with the Stars” pro added, “That is a quote,” of what Green said about the close vote. Burke noted, “And you were talking season eight. This was the height of the show’s success.”
She continued, “Like, we’re talking 20 million [votes] just on a regular night. Finale must have been like 24, 25 million. And to lose by just hundreds of votes…”
Marini Said He Was ‘at Peace’ With Losing to Shawn Johnson
Marini reflected on that moment he lost to Johnson. “The moment she wins, exploding happiness,” he shared.
The two-time “Dancing with the Stars” veteran explained he was happy she won. “Why? She’s a minor… If I win against a 17-year-old, the world will have forgotten me. Oh, he’s the best. Of course, we want him to win.” Marini continued, “Never made a mistake… And next thing you know, he loses by 500 points. Great.”
He added, “I want her to win…She’s like you say, American sweetheart. Olympic. What am I? I little Frenchy guy that just somehow knows how to dance.”
Marini admitted he doesn’t think the show would have “made me win.” He also told Burke, “Even if they made me win, definitely I will not have the career I have today. Because everybody wanted to see me after that, Cheryl. Everybody.”
Executives behind both television shows and movies wanted to work with Marini, he said. He explained, “You know, these people were upset I didn’t win, so they want to give me something. And that was different. Now nobody sees that.”
If Marini and Burke had won, he said he “Would have been so, so so happy and proud for you.” However, he insisted, “No, I didn’t care [about losing]… I was at peace before.”
The DWTS Alum Felt the Result Was Wrong
Despite coming in second on season 8 of “Dancing with the Stars,” Marini insists he was satisfied with the outcome.
He told Burke, “We went to the final and we showed everyone. I can ask everybody. Who did well? I can ask the judge. They gave me all the tens.”
Marini continued, “So I know I’m proud of what we did. That the result is not what it should be. It’s not my problem.”
Marini also said that when he lost to Johnson, “My whole perspective changed on the show. I knew right then and there, it didn’t matter if the dancing was great. It mattered more about the storyline.”
The “Dancing with the Stars” veteran admitted if he could have done something differently, he perhaps would have tried not to be as competitive. Marini shared he felt he may have “rubbed people the wrong way.”
Some fans shared their takes on Marini’s comments in the “Dancing with the Stars” subreddit.
“I appreciate that Gilles felt that he should have won his original season,” one Redditor noted. That fan continued, “Gilles probably thought he had a lock on the demographic but he didn’t do enough to beat Shawn.”
“He seemed a bit dismissive about Shawn’s win…Kind of sounded like ‘I’m glad she got the confidence boost, but we were better,” another Redditor suggested.