The winner of Dancing With the Stars and the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy has been decided, after another spectacular season of rumba, salsa and cha-cha magic.

Six celebrities were battling it out to take out the top spot in Sunday night’s grand finale, hosted by Daryl Somers and Gold Logie nominee Sonia Kruger.

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Competing in a freestyle dance-off to wow judges Todd McKenney, Sharna Burgess, Mark Wilson and Craig Revel Horwood were performer Paulini, Human Nature singer Phil Burton, Home and Away star Emily Weir, actors Virginia Gay and Christie Whelan Browne, and comedy legend Mary Coustas.

And the winner is ...

Once the judge’s scores were combined with the live audience vote, the winner was revealed as Human Nature singer Phil Burton with dance partner Ash-Leigh Hunter.

“This show has just been so incredible for the last seven weeks,” he said after taking out the competition.

“I’ve had the absolute time of my life.

“And, you know, it is a competition but it doesn’t feel like it when you are out here and you are with all these amazing people.

“It’s been an absolute joy to be a part of it.”

He added: “I also want to thank my family who were here tonight, my beautiful wife and my kids.”

“But the biggest thanks for me has to go to Ash,” he concluded.

“She’s brought out a side in me that I never even knew existed.”

How it played out

Dancing their hearts out first up were Emily Weir and Lyu Masuda, performing an energetic, action-packed salsa/Charleston mash-up danced to Spice Up Your Life by The Spice Girls.

Sharna Burgess was wowed by the high-octane performance, calling it “the most fire, fierce way to open up our Grand Finale,” adding the pair “always deliver”.

Mark Wilson added that he found it hard to fault the performance, while Craig Revel Horwood joked that Emily was “shimmying for Jesus, darling!”

Paulini was keen to win - despite bruises on her feet and bleeding toes.

Dancing freestyle with Igor Ifliand, she performed a fun, funky modern piece of choreography, with Mark Wilson later praising Paulini’s natural sense of rhythm and innate elegance.

With partner Aric Yegudkin, Mary Coustas danced a deeply personal freestyle routine about her love for her daughter Jamie after her long and heartbreaking struggle with infertility.

After the performance, Mary ran to her tearful daughter, who was standing, overcome with emotion, in the audience.

Mark Wilson described Mary’s performance as “touching, brave and real”, if not technically perfect, while Sharna said she had brought her own heartfelt “truth” to the performance.

Across in the dancer’s lounge, Sonia Kruger admitted that “the tissues were out” after the emotional performance, calling Mary an “inspiration” for all women who had struggled to conceive.

Human Nature singer Phil Burton and partner Ash-Leigh Hunter got their Motown groove on with a rollicking freestyle number danced to Wilson Pickett’s Land of 1000 Dances.

“Full of rhythm, full of musicality, it seems you can turn your hand to any genre, darling,” Craig enthused.

“You were so in your element,” Sharna added.

“You have grown as a dancer; you started off great and got even better!”

For stage and screen actress Christie Whelan Browe, dancing with Craig Monley, it was time to “throw everything at it” with a freestyle routine danced to Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven.

“Thank you for bringing your heart, your soul, your energy and time to this show, because it has been a gift watching you,” Sharna gushed after the moving, expressive performance.

“It was ethereal,” Mark Wilson said, adding that her ability to communicate story and emotions through dance was artful.

“I loved it, I loved it, I loved,” he said.

The last performance was from actress Virginia Gay, dancing with Ian Waite in a feisty, gender-swapping routine that Daryl Somers called “blisteringly beautiful”.

“You’ve just grabbed this competition by the balls of your feet,” Todd said after the jazzy, sexy routine.

“It’s been such a joy to watch you and I want to dance with both of you!”

Mark Wilson said they had been “the most consistent couple” throughout the season, bringing energy and enthusiasm to each routine.

When the judges’ votes were counted up, Emily Weir and Phil Burton were tied in top spot at 39 points, followed by Christie Whelan Browne and Virginia Gay (36 points), Mary Coustas (31) and Paulini (30).

After a stunning song and dance tribute to the late Tina Turner, all of this year’s Dancing With the Stars contestants gathered together again before Emily Weir and Phil Burton were announced as the top two finalists.

Then it was a nail-biting wait as the live audience vote was counted, before Phil Burton was awarded the winning title and $20,000 for his chosen charity, NSW Police Legacy.

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How to vote for Sonia Kruger at the 2023 Logie Awards

Nominated for: TV WEEK GOLD LOGIE

Voting is now open for all popular awards categories and remains open until the end of the red carpet telecast at 7.30pm AEST on Sunday July 30.

There is one exception, however - the coveted TV WEEK Gold Logie Award, which, for the first time, will stay open throughout the telecast and close at 10.30pm AEST.

You can vote now for your favourites from the shortlisted nominees at www.tvweeklogies.com.au.

Watch the Logies on Sunday July 30 from 7pm on Channel 7 and 7plus.