When Is The ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Season 22 Finale? Nyle DiMarco Favored To Win ‘DWTS’ Mirrorball Trophy

When is the Dancing with the Stars finale, and who will take home the Season 22 Mirrorball trophy? With just three weeks to go before the winner is revealed, there is already speculation that Nyle DiMarco and his partner Peta Murgatroyd will win ABC’s ballroom dance competition this season, with Ginger Zee and Val Chmerkovskiy coming in a close second.

SMMMMMOKIN! pic.twitter.com/ZxWVy9zDAP

— Official DWTS (@DancingABC) April 30, 2016

In previous seasons, the spring season finale of DWTS airs one week after the premiere of The Bachelorette, but ABC is putting the two shows back-to-back this year. The two-hour Dancing with the Stars finale is scheduled to air on Tuesday, May 24 at 9 p.m. ET, one day after ABC’s premiere of JoJo Fletcher’s season of The Bachelorette.

According to NJ, there are two couples who are considered to be frontrunners this season — Nyle DiMarco and Peta Murgatroyd, and Ginger Zee and Valentin Chmerkovskiy.

Although there has been some chatter about Ginger pulling off a win because she works for ABC (Good Morning America), there is an even greater buzz about Nyle being named the champion — including word that he may be getting pity votes because he’s the show’s first deaf dancer.

According to Romper, Zee is a strong contender, she will have to “out-charm DiMarco” if she wants to win the Mirrorball trophy. Her scores are consistent, but votes from fans factor in when it comes to who stays and who goes.

As far as pity votes go, Nyle is very talented on the dance floor and has a big fan base, so it doesn’t appear that he’s being saved from elimination each week because viewers and judges are giving him special treatment due to his disability.

The same topic came up on Season 20 when contestant Noah Galloway — a former U.S. Army solider who lost his left arm above the elbow, and his left leg above the knee during the Iraq War — hovered around the bottom of the leaderboard throughout Season 20, but still made it to the finals.

If it were a heroic-inspirational-amazing-person competition, Noah would win. But it’s a DANCE competition! Stop the pity votes!! #DWTS

— Linda (@LindasSweetBoy) May 13, 2015

Many fans took to Twitter to state that Noah made it further than he should because viewers felt bad for him, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with Nyle.

Here’s a look at how Nyle and Ginger stack up on the leaderboards over the past six weeks.

• Week 1: Nyle and Peta (23) – Ginger and Val (23)
• Week 2: Nyle and Peta (20) – Ginger and Val (21)
• Week 3: Nyle and Peta (25) – Ginger and Val (21)
• Week 4: Nyle and Peta (34) – Ginger and Val (36)
• Week 5: Nyle and Peta (37) – Ginger and Val (32)
• Week 6: Nyle and Peta (25) – Ginger and Val (24)

Although the buzz among fans points to Nyle and Ginger as the two to beat on this season of Dancing with the Stars, they have some stiff competition.

Wanyá and Lindsay, and Paige and Mark have higher average scores (so far) this season. If they can drum up votes from fans and stay at the top of the leaderboard for the next two weeks, there is no doubt that they will be in the finals.

It will come as no surprise to many fans to see Nyle, Ginger, Wanya, and Paige as the final four, but who will reign supreme this season? Viewers will find out in just three weeks, but before then, there is still plenty of great dancing to watch before the season ends.

According to Buddy TV, there will be two eliminations on Week 7 (May 2), leaving just six celebrity dancers to move on to Week 8 (May 9) where the final four will be determined. The semi-finals airs May 16 followed by the Dancing with the Stars season finale on May 24 at 9 p.m. ET.

Who do you think will win Dancing with the Stars this season?

[Image via Adam Taylor/ABC Television Group]