Nyle DiMarco, first caught the public’s attention when he stood out as the deaf contestant on America’s Next Top Model. He went on to win the latest season of the modeling competition. Since then, he’s acted in ABC’s Switched at Birth and has been dancing it up on Dancing With the Stars.
On Tuesday, Nyle and his dance partner/coach Peeta Murgatroyd were crowned the champions of Dancing With the Star’s twenty-second season. The dancing duo took home the Mirror Ball Trophy and beat out finalists Ginger Zee (Good Morning America Weather Anchor), Val Chmerkovskiy, Paige VanZant (UFC Fighter), and Mark Ballas.
Throughout the 22nd season of Dancing With the Stars, Nyle captivated viewers by dancing consistently well and to the rhythm of the music without being able to hear anything. He even danced while blindfolded briefly during a routine and dedicated his final dance (Disturbed: The Sound of Silence) to the deaf community. This particular performance received a perfect score from all three judges, and brought them to tears. After his performance, judge Carrie Ann Inaba told Nyle that his Sound of Silence freestyle dance was the best performance she’s seen in all twenty two seasons of Dancing With the Stars.
A few hours after his victory, Nyle shared the following message on Facebook:
“I CANT BELIEVE IT!! WE WON! WE WON THE MIRROR BALL!!! The first DEAF WINNER!
This is for 70 million of Deaf people in the world! This is for all the Deaf kids suffering language deprivation. Only 2% of 70 million of Deaf people have access to education in sign language. More than 75% of parents don’t sign to their Deaf kids. Winning this is a HUGE step to ending LANGUAGE DEPRIVATION of millions.
Thank you all for your continuing support. It means A LOT“
Nyle DiMarco has brought more attention to the issues concerning deaf individuals and he also launched a non-profit organization called The Nyle DiMarco Foundation. The mission of this organization is to work towards improving the lives of deaf people all over the world.
Congrats Nyle!