Samuel Johnson wins Dancing With The Stars
Actor, presenter, Gold Logie winner and anti-cancer campaigner Samuel Johnson has taken out the first season of Ten’s revived Dancing With The Stars competition.
Johnson beat fellow finalists, blogger and author Constance Hall, and performer and reality television stalwart Courtney Act (Shane Jenek).
A massive CONGRATULATIONS to Sam & Jorja, our #DWTSau winners! pic.twitter.com/3bMAecyJ3S
— Dancing With The Stars Australia (@DancingOn10) April 22, 2019
Johnson said all he wanted to do was “kick cancer in the face” after the death of his sister Connie Johnson in 2017.
Judge Sharna Burgess offered her assessment of why Johnson had taken out the competition: “Sam wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s real, raw and the ultimate showman. The passion he gives to his performances is not only something you watch, it’s something you really feel.”
Samuel Johnson was previously a well-known voice-over artist, actor and presenter, who won the TV Week Gold Logie in 2017 for being Australia’s most popular television personality. His Logie was ostensibly for his portrayal of Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum on Seven’s ‘Molly’ mini-series. In recent years, however, Johnson has said he won’t return to his entertainment profession until he raises $10m for his cancer charity Love Your Sister.
Recent reports indicate he may be re-assessing his return to the spotlight.
Ten revived the Dancing With The Stars format this year, with Grant Denyer and Amanda Keller fronting the program.
The show had previously run on Seven between 2004 and 2015, with the network squeezing in 15 seasons over the 11 years.
Its final episode on Seven had 883,000 viewers, which was down on the peaks of 1m-plus viewers it had seen in previous years.
This year’s iteration on Ten had 621,000 metro viewers on debut. Its most recent episode had 556,000 metro viewers – up from the previous week’s 437,000.
The ratings for Dancing With The Stars’ final episode will come in on Tuesday morning.
Thanks for publishing before the episode screened in Perth 🙁
User ID not verified.
Curious that his dance partner, and coach, didn’t get a mention in the story. There’s a fair chance she played a substantial role in his performances.
User ID not verified.
Hi James,
Not curious so much as it is a result of the audience Mumbrella writes for, and what we report on. Our content is about the personalities, politics, policies, procedures – and indeed performances – of those in the media, marketing and advertising industries. This was a story for us because Samuel is a former Gold Logie winner, a prominent television personality and someone who has spoken at our conferences and events. It also appeals to our audience because Dancing With The Stars is one of Ten’s tentpole programs, and we report on the television networks’ performance and programming decisions.
So, fantastic though Jorja Freeman may be, that’s not what the story is about for us. You can read all about her in consumer publications though:
https://tenplay.com.au/channel-ten/dancing-with-the-stars/articles/dancing-with-the-stars-winner-2019
https://www.kidspot.com.au/lifestyle/entertainment/celebrity-news/its-like-riding-all-the-rainbows-sam-johnson-wins-dwts/news-story/b84093c69e4099a84d50dc4e5d3858c4
https://www.who.com.au/sam-johnson-wins-dancing-with-the-stars
Vivienne – Mumbrella