Did Fans Predict Robert Irwin’s DWTS Season 34 Win?

Robert Irwin may have appeared shocked by his Dancing With the Stars season 34 win, but several Bracketology users correctly picked him to take home the trophy.

At the beginning of the season, Us Weekly teamed up with Bracketology for a fantasy league where fans could predict which couple they thought would win DWTS — and 39.34 percent correctly picked Irwin, 21, as their First Impression winner.

The wildlife conservationist and pro Witney Carson ultimately won the competition during the Tuesday, November 25, finale. (Irwin and Carson, 32, beat runner-ups Alix Earle and Val Chermkovskiy, followed by Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa. Dylan Efron and Danielle Karagach ended in fourth place, while Elaine Hendrix and Alan Bersten took home the fifth place title.)

“My sister said it best, ‘Thank you for changing my life,’” Irwin said, while Carson gushed that she felt like she “already won” having him as her partner.

Ahead of the win, Irwin shared that he sustained a rib injury — but powered through to complete his final three dances on Tuesday.

“I’ve been dealing with rib pain because the intercostal muscles of the ribs are under a lot of tension,” he said in a rehearsal package. “It’s been getting worse progressively.”

Now, Irwin shared that he’s on the road to recovery.

“We’re getting there,” Irwin said on the Wednesday, November 26, episode of Good Morning America. “It’s painful but no pain, no gain. It’s all good, we wanted to push through. Witney was amazing at changing up some of the moves we had in there [that] we had to change on the fly.”

He continued, “Our last dance, that freestyle, was our way to say thank you to everybody who’s been on that journey. We just knew we had to make it work because it was the way to just say, ‘We’re so grateful for this experience.’ Honestly, I’ll heal up.”

As someone who catches “crocs” for a living, Irwin quipped that he’s “used to” being injured.

“It’s all good,” he quipped. “We were having that much fun that I didn’t even realize there was an issue till the end because [of] the adrenaline, the passion and the fun of it all. It overrides anything. It is, literally, the greatest thing I’ve gotten to be a part of. I’m just so, so happy [that I could] bring a bit of that khaki, ‘wildlife warrior’ vibe in there.”

Carson went on to reveal the moves she did alter in their freestyle — which earned a perfect score from judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough — given Irwin’s physical limitations.

“I get tossed by the [other male pro dancers], and Robert usually catches me,” Carson said Wednesday. “There was one time we did it that just killed his ribs, so I took it out.”

Carson explained that instead of Irwin catching her, she tweaked the number to rely more on the backup dancers. Irwin then met Carson back on the dance floor when she was on her feet.

She continued, “Obviously, his health is my No. 1 priority. I have a sense of protectiveness forever now.”