So You Think You Can Dance winners: Who’s won the Fox dance competition?
By Sabrina Reed
Updated: Aug. 10, 2022
So You Think You Can Dance has finished its seventeenth season! The dance competition started its run in 2005, which means many of its contestants this year grew up watching dancers test their skills and stamina to win the series.
As fans noticed this season, the competition went through quite the change. Creator of the show, and previously the only member of the judges panel to be in every season, Nigel Lythgoe wasn’t asked back to the series to preside over the fate of its contestants. Instead, So You Think You Can Dance alum Stephen “tWitch” Boss, Internet and reality dance sensation JoJo Siwa, and screen and stage actor Matthew Morrison were tapped to oversee and guide this new generation of dancers coming into the competition.
Part way through the season, we bid adieu to Morrison due to a violation of protocol, and welcomed Leah Remini as his replacement. But, even before this change, it was clear the show was headed in a new direction.
The Dance Academy round of the show was nixed. Contestants who’d auditioned in Los Angeles, New York, and New Orleans faced off in LA to earn a spot in the choreography round which left viewers scratching their heads.
It seemed as if the rigors of the competition had been removed as 42 dancers were whittled down to the Top 12. Previously, we’d gone through 16 seasons of dancers having to fight their way to the main stage through multiple rounds and this year’s lot looked to be having an easier time of it.
Once they got to the main stage that turned out not to be the case. This accelerated season, which suffered from pacing issues, put the dancers at a disadvantage. Only the studio audience could decide the fate of the majority of contestants and without the buffer of the at-home audience to assist, the competition’s elimination process became brutal.
But, as is typically the case with So You Think You Can Dance (with exception to season 9), one dancer did claim the top spot and joined the ranks of the competition’s winners.
Who are the dancers who secured the competition’s crown by displaying their innovation and musicality, wowing the judges and the audience at every turn until they could win the So You Think You Can Dance title? You’ll find the list below.
The dancers who’ve won the competition vary in expertise from contemporary to street dancers. This series has championed many different styles of dance, honoring the shifting art form and those who keep pushing the envelope.
So You Think You Can Dance winners
- Nick Lazzarini (season 1)
- Benji Schwimmer (season 2)
- Sabra Johnson (season 3)
- Joshua Allen (season 4)
- Jeanine Mason (season 5)
- Russell “Gutta” Ferguson (season 6)
- Lauren Froderman (season 7)
- Melanie Moore (season 8)
- Eliana Girard (season 9)
- Chehon Wespi-Tschopp (season 9)
- Amy Yakima (season 10)
- Du-Shaunt “Fik-Shun” Stegall (season 10)
- Ricky Ubeda (season 11)
- Gaby Diaz (season 12)
- Leon “Kida” Burns (season 13)
- Lex Ishimoto (season 14)
- Hannahlei Cabanilla (season 15)
- Bailey Munoz (season 16)
- Alexis Warr Burton (season 17)
Stay tuned to Hidden Remote for more So You Think You Can Dance news and coverage! New episodes of the competition air Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.