In their much-publicized rematch, John O'Hurley beat champ Kelly Monaco to win the Dancing with the Stars title Thursday night on the ABC show.
"I'm very rarely beyond words, and I am right now," O'Hurley said after the very close results were announced. Cohost Tom Bergeron said the winner and loser were separated by just 1 percent of the votes.
"In the tradition of the great rematches – Ali vs. Frazier, McEnroe vs. Borg, the Rolling Stones and father time – neither could resist the challenge of proving once and for all they are the best," Bergeron said.
O'Hurley's professional dancing partner was Charlotte Jorgensen. Monaco danced with Alec Mazo.
This rematch was prompted by viewer complaints after the July 6 finale – in which Monaco won – that the show's voting process, which relied on both viewers and judges, was confusing. Questions also were raised about possible network favoritism for Monaco, who stars in the ABC soap General Hospital.
O'Hurley is best known for playing catalog king J. Peterman on NBC's Seinfeld.
Asked by reporters about any possible bias, judge Len Goodman said shortly after the finale that the results weren't influenced by the network. "I never knew she was on ABC," he said of Monaco.
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