“Dancing with the Stars” Season 33 sets new voting record

There was record voter turnout, and no, we're not talking about the US presidential election here. Season 33 of Dancing with the stars has received more votes than ever before and is also performing overwhelmingly in the ratings.

So what is it about Season 33 of Dancing with the Stars that has people so excited? Well, maybe it was a little bit of everything.

“Dancing with the Stars” Season 33 is breaking records

Like most seasons of Dancing with the Stars, Season 33 began with a bit of controversy as Anna Delvey and her ankle monitor stomped around the dance floor. Unsurprisingly, she was the first celebrity to receive the boot, but fans have still tuned in to watch reality stars, actors and Olympic athletes compete for the Mirrorball Trophy.

According to a report from Deadline, DWTS' Disney Night helped make it the most popular entertainment show for adults 18-49 on October 22. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 0.72, up 24 percent compared to Season 32's Disney Night.

To put this into perspective, that's about 4.85 million people who watched “Dancing with the Stars.” That may seem small compared to the numbers from 2011, where the most-watched season reached 22 million viewers. However, we know that people don't watch live TV as much anymore, and that's an impressive feat for a show that's been running for so long.

Although DWTS doesn't typically release total viewer votes, it does reveal that the dancers received over 16 million votes during the Disney Night episode. That's more than the population of some countries!

Unfortunately for Phaedra Parks and Val Chmerkovskiy, those 16 million votes didn't go their way. They were ultimately eliminated in the highly rated episode, leaving seven couples remaining in the competition.

“Dancing with the Stars” airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC and Disney+.

TELL US – ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT DANCING WITH THE STARS IS DOING SO WELL IN THE RATINGS? Which couple do you think will take home the Mirrorball trophy?