"My mouth literally dropped": Fans delighted to see Gleb in "drag" for his performance with Shangela on DWTS season 31 finale

Dancing With The Stars (DWTS) season 31 aired its finale episode on Monday, November 21, 2022, at 8 pm ET on Disney+.

The episode documented four finalists giving it their all in their final two performances in an effort to win the Mirror Ball trophy. The finalists were Charli D'Amelio and Mark Ballas, Gabby Windey and Val Chmerkovskiy, Shangela and Gleb Savchenko, and Wayne Brady and Witney Carson.

Charli and Mark were crowned the winners of this season.

On this week's finale episode of DWTS, the contestants had to perform two rounds of routines - the first was redemption dance and the second was freestyle. For the second round, Shangela and Gleb mesmerized the audience with their dance performance. Viewers were pleasantly surprised to see Gleb in drag as an honorary action towards his dancer Shangela.

Fans took to social media to express their excitement towards seeing Gleb in drag. One tweeted:

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Gleb appears in drag during his performance with Shangela on DWTS season 31

Ahead of the second round, the DWTS contestants were ready to dance their hearts out to their freestyle routines. Shangela admitted to being skeptical of how her partner would work with her at the start of the season, but credited Gleb for his partnership. The pro dancer also noted that Shangela is the best partner he has had so far in the dance competition series.

Shangela said:

"I stepped into your world and you never shut me down. I wouldn't wanna be doing this dance with anybody else."

Ahead of the performance, Shangela confessed to bringing "everything I know about the world of drag into this performance." The DWTS contestant added that the performance would be highly energetic and a "nonstop rollercoaster," and did the pair deliver.

Shangela and Gleb took to the stage to perform Survivor by Destiny’s Child and Call Me Mother by RuPaul, featuring Gleb in drag as Natasha. Their dance routine left the judges speechless and the audience mesmerized. Experts complimented the duo on the inspiration behind performing the dance routine.

Carie Ann complimented Shangela for "doing everything with your heart wide open," while Len was left so impressed that he forgot to put in the scores. He also mentioned the fact that Shangela had put chicken on the judges desk, subtly referring to her "crispy" legs which have been her trademark throughout the season.

Derek Hough said:

"We've never seen something like that on the show before. It had magical, it had aerials... I couldn't imagine a better way to finish season 31."

Bruno revealed that he felt like the viewers had won the lottery with this performance. After receiving such incredible remarks, the DWTS duo scored a perfect score of 40/40. After the performance, Shangela told co-host Alfonoso:

"Drag belongs everywhere... we promised you a show and we gave you a show!"

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Fans express their excitement to seeing Gleb Savchenko in drag on DWTS

Fans took to social media to express their absolute delight at seeing Gleb in drag. They felt it was the perfect tribute to Shangela. Check out what they have to say.

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The DWTS season 31 finale saw some incredible performances by former contestants, including Selma Blair, who self-evicted herself after her struggle with multiple sclerosis. She danced to a contemporary routine with partner Sasha Farber. Jordin Sparks also sang her song No Jive live in front of the audience.

The episode marked two emotional farewells as longtime judge Lee Goodman finally bid goodbye to judging the dance competition series. Pro dancer Cheryl Burke gave her final performance after spending 17 long years and 26 year teaching dance styles to over 25 celebrities.