Normani Kordei Was Blindsided By ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Results

Even Normani Kordei felt shocked by the Dancing with the Stars results Tuesday night.

Normani and her pro dancing partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, were announced as the couple in third place during the Dancing with the Stars finale. The audience was audibly shocked by this result, as Normani and Val were considered frontrunners to possibly win the Mirrorball trophy.

Speaking with reporters behind the scenes after the Dancing with the Stars finale, Normani admitted she was shocked about placing third.

“You’re never really guaranteed,” she said of the final results. “It was quite a shocker for me as well, but I’ve gained so much from this experience. I’m so happy, and I can’t even begin to express you know the gratitude that I carry and the blessing especially because I have a lifelong friend now [in Val].”

Val also took to Instagram after the show to post a sweet message about his celebrity partner.

“God has been very kind to me… giving me this experience with you. Seeing you transform and seeing your family celebrate your shine was the absolute most fulfilling part of this season. Stay graceful. Stay humble. Stay great. Love you my friend. It’s been an absolute pleasure.”

David Ross and Lindsay Arnold came in second place, ahead of Normani and Val, despite having consistently lower scores. Rashad Jennings and Emma Slater were crowned the winners of Dancing with the Stars Season 24 and were given the Mirrorball trophy.

Meanwhile, Normani and Val had the highest average score of the entire Season 24 cast, with a 36.8 out of 40. Rashad and Emma were slightly behind them at 36.1, while David and Lindsay were all the way down in sixth place with 32.3. Normani and Val were also the only couple to receive a perfect score in the Dancing with the Stars finale, getting a 40 out of 40 for their fusion of the Argentine tango and the foxtrot.

This season of Dancing with the Stars has featured many surprises along the way. Some fans were outraged after Heather Morris was eliminated in eighth place, and others thought Simone Biles was robbed of a finale placement last week.

Normani had a slight setback last week during rehearsals for the Dancing with the Stars finale when she rolled her ankle. Val admitted that this was not good timing, though he suggested that she was going to push through the pain.

“This couldn’t have happened at a worse time,” Val said in the rehearsal clip package. “I just feel terrible. This is a week that’s already really intense and she’s never going to admit that she’s hurt.”

She recovered quickly, though, and was able to dance with finesse on Monday and Tuesday.

“My ankle is actually fine,” Normani revealed to Entertainment Tonight recently. “It looked really bad. I saw the video back, but luckily I can push through anything and I’m dancing on it.”

In her rehearsal clip package, she also talked about the judges noticing a slight misstep in one of her semifinals performances, and this being a potential reason for her to miss out on winning Season 24 of Dancing with the Stars.

“Last week we had one of our most challenging dances,” she said in the clip. “The judges saw a stumble…it just shows anything can set me back. Any little thing can be the reason why I don’t get the mirrorball.”

Normani will now return to performing full-time with the rest of Fifth Harmony, Ally Brooke, Dinah Jane, and Lauren Jauregui.

Dancing with the Stars will return for its 25th season this fall in its regular time, Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT, on ABC.

[Featured Image by Christopher Polk/Getty Images]