DANCING With the Stars' live finale was 'chaotic' behind-the-scenes and drama-filled, The U.S. Sun can exclusively reveal.
Xochitl Gomez, 17, and her partner Val Chmerkovskiy, 37, were crowned the season 32 winners during the December 5 DWTS finale.
Leading up to the emotional moment, there was "chaos" and many "stressful" moments that viewers did not see on TV.
It all began on Monday when surprise celebrity guests and pro dancers got together to pre-tape the special holiday routine to Santa Claus is Coming to Town.
The guests included Hannah Brown, Witney Carson, Rashad Jennings and Julianne Hough's former dance partner Helio Castroneves.
According to an insider, the stars and dancers had to tape the routine three times and, in between each take, hosts Julianne and Alfonso Ribeiro exhibited "diva-like behavior."
Read More on DWTS
"The glam team rushed up to the hosts to make sure they were camera-ready for each take.
"Julianne had four to six hair, makeup and wardrobe people around her at any given time," and insider spilled.
"They were making sure she looked perfect and kept fixing her sparkly high boots so they wouldn't fall down."
Derek Hough's sister wore a red hot bodysuit that showed off her cleavage and toned legs.
Most read in Entertainment
The insider noted that, for Alfonso, he had one lady wiping the sweat that was on his face and another lady holding an electronic fan close to his face to cool him down from all the dancing.
NOT LIVE?
On Tuesday, there was also another pre-tape that took place before the big finale event.
The first dance that brought back all the season 32 celebrities to the ballroom was pre-taped, according to an insider, as well as the introduction of the five finalists.
"It took a lot of time to get the finalists on the huge Mirrorballs that were hanging from the ceiling, so they pre-taped the entire intro and had to do multiple takes," the insider shared, adding that producers "faked" viewers at home.
Despite the finale beginning at 8pm ET, no filming took place inside the ballroom until a half hour later because of the pre-taped segments.
HUSSLE ON SET
What was most shocking behind-the-scenes, according to an eyewitness, is how fast the crew had to set up for each performance.
"Many times during the show the crew had to bring in - and take down - heavy stages and objects in a matter of minutes," the eyewitness revealed.
"It was nerve-racking to watch the crew struggle to have everything ready for when the camera began rolling again."
The showrunner himself was "shouting" in the mic, counting down the minutes and "screaming" for more hands to help on set.
The insider added: "There were times when there was less than 10 seconds before the break ended and there were still five people on the stage setting things up, adding props and trying to remove all the confetti with leaf blowers."
Dancing With the Stars is known for having one of the biggest TV productions in Los Angeles.
SECRET SCORING
Throughout the three-hour taping, which ended up being over four hours for the audience, the five finalists performed two different routines: a redemption routine and a freestyle routine.
Jason Mraz and his partner Danielle Karagach ended up placing second, while Ariana Madix and Pasha Pashkov placed third.
The other finalists included Charity Lawson and Artem Chigvintsev, and Alyson Hannigan and Sasha Farber.
After each performance, the judges - Bruno Tonioli, Derek Hough and Carrie Ann Inaba - had to immediately type their score into a panel in front of them, which is not seen on camera.
The scores are then locked in before they even share their feedback with each couple and reveal their score on TV.
Carrie Ann appeared regretful after locking a nine for Charity's tango.
"You could tell she wished she would've gave a 10," the insider said, "but it was too late and the score was already locked in."
COMPETING CROWD
Off-camera, there was a competition going on between the left side of the stage and the right side.
The live audience was competing with each other to win prizes.
An insider spilled: "There was a crowd handler who was rallying up the audience and would give incentives to make everyone cheer louder during the show.
"Fans went crazy as the handler tossed a bunch of DWTS T-shirts into the audience. They also had a chance at winning a free dinner and tickets to attend the show next season."
All the excitement was building up for the ending in which the winners would finally be revealed and given the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.
Read More on The US Sun
After Xochitel and Val were crowned the winners, the ballroom turned into "a confetti bath" and everyone was "covered in confetti."
The best special effect was saved for last, especially given how long it would take to clean up the big mess.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEZqqupl6YvK57xKernqqklravucSnq2hxaGV%2Bc4CTaJuwrKNir6a0yKebZqyYmnq0r8SnnKxllpa4pr7YZpurmZ2WerS0zrBkrJ2Tp7K1v4yrnK%2BdkaGypXs%3D