The Highest-Scoring Celebrities Ever On 'Dancing With The Stars'

Many celebrities love a good challenge. One of the ways they express this desire to be challenged is by participating in Dancing With the Stars.

Back in 2017, Shark Tank mogul Barbara Corcoran took the challenge in her 60s. She had a bad time with the audience, an ordeal that brought back memories of her dyslexic past.

“The truth is, it’s actually a good place for me to come from. Everything good came because I know I had to bounce back up.”

Though she had one of the lowest scores on the show, by simply taking on the challenge, she’s way ahead for simply trying.

Through the show, some celebrities have had the most terrific of times and gone on to record exceptional scores. Not without a bit of sweat, though. Here are the highest-scoring celebrities on Dancing with the Stars.

Updated October 2024: This article has been updated to reflect the most recent information regarding the celebrities who scored the highest on "Dancing with the Stars".

10 Dancing With The Stars: Amy Purdy

Amy Purdy's score on Dancing with the Stars was 27.87

Snowboarder and actress Amy Purdy made an appearance on Season 18 of Dancing with the Stars. She was paired with Derek Hough.

As the first double amputee to appear on the show, Amy earned praise for her ability to learn and went all the way to the finals where she came second to Meryl Davis, the show's best all-time scorer.

9 Dancing With The Stars: Katherine Jenkins

Katherine Jenkins' score on Dancing with the Stars was 27.87

Popular off of her performance at the Westminster Cathedral, opera-loving pop singer Katherine Jenkins made an appearance on the 14th season of the dancing competition. The singer was paired with Mark Ballas, with whom she had an unfortunate incident, but managed second place.

Katherine managed to floor other contestants when it came to the weekly judges' leaderboard.

8 Dancing With The Stars: Bindi Irwin

Bindi Irwin's score on Dancing with the Stars was 27.88

Known for hosting Bindi the Jungle Girl, Australian television personality Bindi Irwin appeared on Season 21 of Dancing with the Stars. On the show, she was paired with Derek Hough, with whom she went on to win the season.

Up until Jordan Fisher came around, Bindi held the record for the most perfect scores. Bindi said she owed it all to Derek, who was an incredible teacher.

7 Dancing With The Stars: Shawn Johnson

Shawn Johnson's score on Dancing with the Stars was 27.93

Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson was first paired with Mark Ballas on the eighth season of Dancing with the Stars. The pair beat the Gilles Marini team by 1%, making Johnson the youngest winner the show’s ever had.

In an interview with Kelly Clarkson, Shawn revealed that she was proud of her performance, and cherished it more than she did the Olympics.

6 Dancing With The Stars: Jordan Fisher

Jordan Fisher's score on Dancing with the Stars was 27.94

In 2017, actor Jordan Fisher appeared in the 25th season of Dancing with the Stars. He was paired with Lindsay Arnold, with whom he went on to win the season. The pair exuded never-before-seen chemistry that Jordan attributed to friendship with Lindsay.

“From day one when we met, we were like ‘ Oh! We’re gonna be friends for a long time.”

The year after his win, Jordan hosted Dancing With the Stars: Juniors.

5 Dancing With The Stars: Melissa Rycroft

Melissa Rycroft's score on Dancing with the Stars was 28.00

As a contestant on Dancing with the Stars, Melissa Rycroft channeled her inner cheerleader to emerge as one of the show’s most successful scorers. Melissa appeared on Season 8 of the show, where she was paired with Tony Dovolani. The pair emerged the season’s winner, dancing to ‘I Was Here’, ‘ Conga’ and ‘Life Is A Highway’.

Mid-training, Melissa revealed that the pair had gotten some injuries, and were taking turns at icing each other.

4 Dancing With The Stars: Riker Lynch

Ryker Lynch's score on Dancing with the Stars was 28.00

Singer Riker Lynch appeared in the 20th season of the dancing competition. He was paired with Allison Holker and managed to place second, behind the season’s winner, Rumer Willis.

Allison explained Riker’s dancing style when she first met him.

“Riker has some dance skills, but sometimes he’s a little rough around the edges.”

Seven seasons after his appearance, Riker would make a return to the show as a trio partner to Witney Carson and Milo Manheim.

3 Dancing With The Stars: Gilles Marini

Gilles Marini's score on Dancing with the Stars was 28.06

French actor Gilles Marini appeared on the eighth season of Dancing with the Stars, where he was paired with Cheryl Burke. The pair came close to winning the season but were defeated by Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas by a small margin of 1%.

Depite not winning Gilles love his experience on the show.

“Obviously Cheryl taught me so much.”

Gilles also mentioned that a partner he would have loved to take the stage with was Vanessa Williams.

2 Dancing With The Stars: Kristi Yamaguchi

Kristi Yamaguchi's score on Dancing with the Stars was 28.33

Former figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi participated on Season 6 of the show, where she was paired with Mark Ballas. 10 seasons later, she would make a comeback on the show's sixteenth season and pair with Dorothy Hamill.

In 2017, she returned to Dancing with the Stars as part of a three-person jazz alongside Lindsay Sterling and Mark Ballas.

1 Dancing With The Stars: Meryl Davis

Meryl Davis' score on Dancing with the Stars was 28.40

If you thought that a dancing competition could be won by a competitive dancer, you guessed right. Meryl Davis leveraged her ice dancing past to record the show's highest score ever.

Meryl participated in Season 18 of Dancing with the Stars, where she was paired with Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Among her competitors on the show was partner Charlie White, with whom she has been working since 1997.