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Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa may have finished in third place, but their Dancing with the Stars journey ended with a gold-medal-worthy performance.
The pair, who ended their season on finale night on Tuesday, Nov. 25, caught up with PEOPLE after the show to share their candid reactions to judge Carrie Ann Inaba’s praise of their freestyle.
During the show, for their last dance together, the pair performed a freestyle to “Motivation” by Normani — with a little help from the musician herself. Inaba, 57, offered high praise afterward.
“You are a powerful woman of color and came here to represent, and you show them how it’s done,” Carrie Ann said, calling it “the best freestyle I’ve seen in 20 seasons, hands down.”
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The praise apparently meant a lot to Chiles, 24. “I never thought I would make it to a finale and that somebody would say that my freestyle was the best out of all 20 years,” she tells PEOPLE.
Sosa, 25, adds: “And that’s on period. And that’s a wrap.”
As for their final thoughts on season 34 — which ended with fellow competitors Robert Irwin and Witney Carson scoring the Mirrorball Trophy — Chiles called the show “a really cool experience.”
“We all came in here dedicated with our craft and what we need to do,” she says. “So Ezra did an amazing job telling my story and we were able to bond in different ways, and I’m going to really miss him.”
Sosa says he feels “nothing but gratitude” as the season wraps, largely for the bond he shared with his partner. “The biggest thing I’m most grateful for is a wonderful partner who was able to give me this experience and help me learn and grow as a pro,” he says. “I’ll never forget this season.”
Elsewhere during the show, Chiles and Sosa danced a Paso Doble to “Breakin’ Dishes” by Rihanna.
Also speaking with PEOPLE after finale night in Los Angeles, Robert, 21, shared that winning the show a decade after his sister Bindi Irwin did the same meant “everything” to him. “To follow in those footsteps and to do the same has meant everything to me,” he exclusively told PEOPLE backstage. “This has absolutely changed my life.”
