Xochitl Gomez exhibits her newest superpower as she wins ‘Dancing With the Stars’
As America Chavez, Xochitl Gomez is able to travel through the ever-expanding Marvel multiverse. Sure, that’s cool, but could Chavez ever perfect the paso doble, samba or Viennese waltz?
Well, in this equally chaotic universe, Gomez mastered all three and added salsa and the foxtrot to boot as a contestant on “Dancing With the Stars.”
The “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” star’s dancing efforts were rewarded as she took home the inaugural Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy on Tuesday night after winning the program’s 32nd season. The winner’s trophy was renamed this season following the death of longtime series judge Len Goodman in April.
Five couples will compete in the 32nd season finale of ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ including Latina actress Xochitl Gomez.
Dancing the foxtrot to Katy Perry’s “Unconditionally” and a freestyle dance to District 78’s “Que Calor,” Gomez and her partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, got perfect scores to secure the top prize. Gomez bested singer-songwriter Jason Mraz, “Vanderpump Rules” star Ariana Madix, former “Bachelorette” Charity Lawson and actor Alyson Hannigan in the finale.
At 17, Gomez is surprisingly not the youngest winner of the dancing competition show. That title belongs to gold medal-winning gymnast Laurie Hernandez, who won the Mirrorball Trophy at age 16 in 2016. Gomez, who is of Mexican descent, is now the second woman of Latino descent to win the competition, after Hernandez, who has Puerto Rican heritage. Chmerkovskiy was also the dance partner to Hernandez.
The up-and-coming Marvel star noted that she wanted to emphasize her Mexican heritage in her ballroom dances.
The Marvel star faced online hate for playing a ‘Baby-Sitters Club’ character who was originally white. Now she’s opening up about fighting back.
“Representation is really huge for me. Mainly in Latin ballroom dances, I want to really focus on the Latino portion of it and making it as accurate as I can,” she told “Good Morning America” on Wednesday. “[Representation] has been a huge priority for me, especially in costumes and designing and just the background.
“[Set designers] did a wonderful, wonderful job with the background for our freestyle. It’s funny. I took Val to his first Día de los Muertos dinner and that’s where he saw the ofrenda and he was inspired by that aesthetic and that look. I was like, ‘If we could actually do this and execute it well with all the things, it’s just gonna be so perfect.’”
In 2022, Gomez joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the queer Latina superhero America Chavez. She also has starred in “The Baby-Sitters Club,” “Gentefied” and “Ursa Major.”
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