Ballroom dance was brought to our TV screen when Dancing With the Stars season 1 kicked off in 2005.
Launched as the U.S. version of the U.K. series Strictly Come Dancing, DWTS saw three people sitting behind the judges table: Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman — and Inaba and Tonioli have remained in their posts throughout the entire series. (Goodman died in 2023 after a battle with prostate cancer.)
After six episodes, General Hospital’s Kelly Monaco and pro Alec Mazo were crowned the first-ever champions of the Mirrorball Trophy. Actor John O’Hurley and pro Charlotte Jørgensen placed second.
“The first season was only six episodes. It was a test run, and I was like, ‘I’m not going to tell anyone I’m doing it and hopefully I get voted off first and no one will ever see it,’” Monaco recalled to Entertainment Weekly in July 2025. “After the first episode, I was horrified by the comments from the judges, and I got the lowest score, I think, ever in the history of Dancing With the Stars. So, I was like, ‘OK, it’s on. We’re going in and we’re doing this.’ Then I took it seriously, and I was all in at that point.”
Scroll down to see where the season 1 celebrities and pros are now:
