Dancing with the Stars (American TV series) season 18

*Dancing with the Stars*
Dancing with the Stars
Season 18
	Promotional poster, featuring former pro dancer Anna Trebunskaya
Hosted by	Tom Bergeron; Erin Andrews;
Judges	Carrie Ann Inaba; Len Goodman; Bruno Tonioli;
Celebrity winner	Meryl Davis
Professional winner	Maksim Chmerkovskiy
No. of episodes	12
Release
Original network	ABC
Original release	March 17 –; May 20, 2014
Season chronology
	← Previous; Season 17 Next →; Season 19

Season eighteen of Dancing with the Stars premiered on March 17, 2014, on the ABC network.^[1]^[2]

Quick Facts Hosted by, Judges ...

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On May 20, 2014, Olympic ice dancer Meryl Davis and Maksim Chmerkovskiy were crowned the champions, while snowboarder Amy Purdy and Derek Hough finished in second place, and actress Candace Cameron Bure and Mark Ballas finished in third.

This season was also first to feature a new twist called "The Switch Up", which gave viewers the opportunity to vote and change up the celebrity/professional pairings for a week during the season. Each celebrity was required to perform with a new pro for one week.^[3]^[4]

Couples

This season featured twelve celebrity contestants. The cast and their professional partners were revealed on March 4, 2014, on Good Morning America.^[5] Sasha Farber returned to the dance troupe, while Witney Carson and Henry Byalikov were elevated to professional status, and Maksim Chmerkovskiy also returned following a two-season hiatus. Jenna Johnson, who competed on season ten of So You Think You Can Dance, and Artem Chigvintsev, who was a professional on the British Strictly Come Dancing, joined the dance troupe.

More information Celebrity, Notability ...

Celebrity	Notability	Professional partner	Status
Diana Nyad	Long-distance swimmer	Henry Byalikov	Eliminated 1st on March 24, 2014
Sean Avery	NHL player	Karina Smirnoff	Eliminated 2nd on March 24, 2014
Billy Dee Williams	Movie actor	Emma Slater	Withdrew on March 31, 2014
Cody Simpson	Singer-songwriter	Witney Carson Sharna Burgess (Week 4)	Eliminated 3rd on April 14, 2014
Drew Carey	Television host, actor & comedian	Cheryl Burke Witney Carson (Week 4)	Eliminated 4th on April 21, 2014
NeNe Leakes	Reality television personality & actress	Tony Dovolani Derek Hough (Week 4)	Eliminated 5th on April 28, 2014
Danica McKellar	The Wonder Years actress & author	Valentin Chmerkovskiy Maksim Chmerkovskiy (Week 4)	Eliminated 6th on May 5, 2014
Charlie White	Olympic ice dancer	Sharna Burgess Peta Murgatroyd (Week 4)	Eliminated 7th on May 12, 2014
James Maslow	Big Time Rush singer & actor	Peta Murgatroyd Cheryl Burke (Week 4)	Eliminated 8th on May 19, 2014
Candace Cameron Bure	Full House actress & author	Mark Ballas Tony Dovolani (Week 4)	Third place on May 20, 2014
Amy Purdy	Paralympic snowboarder	Derek Hough Mark Ballas (Week 4)	Runners-up on May 20, 2014
Meryl Davis	Olympic ice dancer	Maksim Chmerkovskiy Valentin Chmerkovskiy (Week 4)	Winners on May 20, 2014

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Host and judges

Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli returned as judges; Tom Bergeron returned as host, while Erin Andrews replaced Brooke Burke Charvet as co-host.^[6]^[7] Bandleader Ray Chew replaced the Harold Wheeler orchestra and singers.^[8]

Beginning in week three, a celebrity guest judge joined the judges panel. As a result, couples could receive a top score of 40 for their dances.

More information Date, Guest judge ...

Date	Guest judge	Occupation(s)	Ref.
March 31	Robin Roberts	Anchor of Good Morning America	^[9]
April 7	Julianne Hough	Actress, singer, dancer & choreographer	^[10]
April 14	Donny Osmond	Singer, actor & season 9 winner	^[11]
April 21	Redfoo	Singer/rapper (member of LMFAO) & season 20 contestant	^[12]
April 28	Ricky Martin	Singer, actor & author	^[13]
May 5	Abby Lee Miller	Choreographer & dance instructor on Dance Moms	^[14]
May 12	Kenny Ortega	Producer, director & choreographer	^[15]

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The highest score each week is indicated in bold green with a dagger (†), while the lowest score each week is indicated in italicized red with a double-dagger (‡).

Color key:

Winners

Runners-up

Third place

Withdrew from competition

Eliminated

More information Couple, Pl. ...

*Dancing with the Stars* (season 18) - Weekly scores
Couple	Pl.	Week
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Night 1	Night 2
Meryl & Maks	1st	24	25†	39†	39†	36	40†	39+39=78†	36+34=70‡	40+40=80†	30+30=60†	+30=90†^{[lower-alpha 1]}
Amy & Derek	2nd	24	24	36	34	37	38	36+39=75	40+39=79†	39+39=78	30+29=59	+30=89^{[lower-alpha 2]}
Candace & Mark	3rd	25	21	32	28‡	35	32‡	35+39=74	36+38=74	34+38=72‡	27+24=51‡	+27=78‡^{[lower-alpha 3]}
James & Peta	4th	21	25†	36	35	40†	35	35+35=70	36+39=75	40+36=76	29+29=58^{[lower-alpha 4]}
Charlie & Sharna	5th	27†	25†	36	33	37	36	36+35=71	40+38=78	40+36=76^{[lower-alpha 4]}
Danica & Val	6th	24	24	36	32	39	36	33+39=72	38+34=72^{[lower-alpha 4]}
NeNe & Tony	7th	21	21	31	32	36	33	31+35=66‡^{[lower-alpha 4]}
Drew & Cheryl	8th	21	21	30‡	33	28‡	32‡^{[lower-alpha 4]}
Cody & Witney	9th	22	22	35	31	34^{[lower-alpha 4]}
Billy Dee & Emma	10th	15‡	15‡	^{[lower-alpha 5]}
Sean & Karina	11th	20	21^{[lower-alpha 4]}
Diana & Henry	12th	18	^{[lower-alpha 4]}

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Notes

This couple finished in first place.
This couple finished in second place.
This couple finished in third place.
This couple was eliminated.
This couple withdrew from the competition.

Individual judges' scores in the charts below (given in parentheses) are listed in this order from left to right: Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli.

Week 1: First Dances

Couples performed either the cha-cha-cha, contemporary, or the foxtrot, and are listed in the order they performed.