Witney Carson is a two-time mirrorball winner now, but season 27 still bugs her — and honestly, I get it. At Vulture's Reality Masterminds Celebration in New York City on Thursday, May 7, the 32-year-old pro told Us Weekly that Milo Manheim should have taken that trophy back in 2018. It was a gut punch then, and it still nags at her now.
"That should have been his win."
Why this is back in the conversation
Carson's second win in 2025 — with Robert Irwin — unexpectedly dragged her old loss with Milo, 25, back into the spotlight. Their season 27 finale freestyle started circulating online again last year, and a younger crowd basically discovered it like a long-lost B-side. Cue the rallying cry: "Justice for Milo." Carson says that wave actually made her happy — fans still love the guy, and she thinks they’re right to.
Quick refresher on that wild season 27 finish
- In 2018, Carson and Manheim finished runners-up. Sharna Burgess, 40, won with radio host Bobby Bones, 46.
- The controversy: Bones and Burgess consistently scored lower than the other finalists all season.
- The other finale teams were Alexis Ren with Alan Bersten, and Evanna Lynch with Keo Motsepe.
- The backlash never really cooled. In November 2025, Bones said on TikTok that he mailed his trophy back, frustrated that people were still taking shots years later — especially after former host Tom Bergeron told Parade that Bones' win was the show's biggest "surprise." Bones' take: if he wasn't wanted, he didn't want to be there.
- Bergeron later apologized, saying he never meant to hurt Bones' feelings and that his comment was about the show needing to better balance judge scores with viewer votes.
Milo was there when Witney finally got her second
When Carson and Robert Irwin, 22, won last year, Manheim was in the audience. She felt fans were pushing for that team partly because of lingering season 27 feelings — a little redemption-by-proxy for Milo. Not subtle, but not wrong either.
The rain dance that will not die
Carson still ranks her freestyle with Milo — the rain-soaked one that keeps getting re-uploaded — among her all-time favorites. Funny thing: on camera-blocking day she cried, convinced she’d made the wrong call. She worried he needed a big, punchy freestyle instead of a cool, moody rain number. Turns out the moody rain number became a classic.
Where her head is now
She is glad she got that second mirrorball with Irwin — it takes the pressure off moving forward. Coming off a win, she says the plan for the next round is simple: keep it fun and just dance. Hard to argue with that.
For the record
Carson's mirrorballs: Alfonso Ribeiro in 2014, Robert Irwin in 2025. The season 27 outcome still stings for her, but she isn't stuck in it — she’s using the momentum, and the fan energy around Milo, to enjoy where she is now.