On May 23rd, the won the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy, but that doesn"t mean that Dancing With The Stars duo Peta Murgatroyd and Nyle DiMarco were always 100% positive they would emerge victorious.
In fact, Murgatroyd though the complete opposite when she learned she was going to be paired up with the deaf winner of America"s Next Top Model.
Murgatroyd, who hails from Perth, Australia, explained to the morning show that DiMarco comes from a family that has four generations of deaf members, and that he himself is 100% deaf.
"It was pretty challenging," the pro dancer told Australia"s Today show via satellite on March 27th.
"You know, when I first met him, I had to sit down and really strategise as to how I was going to get through the competition."
"I definitely had my doubts."
Murgatroyd explained how she not only got DiMarco to feel the rhythm, but she created an experiment that allowed viewers to understand what DiMarco experiences every week.
"We did do the silent dance, it was the paso doble. We cut the music for about four counts of eight," she explained. You know, I did that because I wanted to show America- and the world – what it"s like being in his position every Monday night.
It was scary, it was haunting, and people actually understood after that what he was going through and how crazy it is. He has this [built-in] rhythm in his body. And I still, to this day, don"t know how he did it.
"We got through it with little scratches on his back to make him faster, we had pulls and pushes.
"It turned out great," she told the anchors.
"I mean, he did so well every single week and he just proved to people that anybody can dance and anybody can do this competition."
Watch Murgatroyd"s interview below
