Five couples have a chance to win the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy during the Dancing with the stars season 33 finale – and they all have their eyes on the prize.

After the semi-finals on Tuesday, November 19 – which ended with the shock announcement that no duo would be going home – the remaining contestants told exclusively We weekly how they prepare mentally and physically for the final.

“It’s obviously going to be a long week,” said Pro Jenna Johnsonwho, together with her partner, has been the leader throughout the season, Joey Graziadei. “There are longer dances, but I really want our mantra to be joy. I just want this to be a joyful experience because it’s over so quickly and we’ll never get this moment back in time. So I really want it to be a positive week for us. While there is still a lot to accomplish, I just want it to be a moment we will never forget.”

Graziadei, 29, added that win or lose, he has already enlisted Johnson, 30, to choreograph his and fiancée Kelsey Anderson‘s first dance at their wedding.

“You don’t need a mirror ball to have that title. She has that title for everything she has done,” says Graziadei, the first former bachelor to achieve the title DWTS final. (Several former bachelors have achieved this feat.)

Ilona Maher and her partner, Alan Berstenhave also formed an unbreakable bond this season. Bersten, 30, told me Us that the pair will “stay in each other’s lives forever” and shared their strategy for the finale.

“It’s about getting the very best out of Ilona, ​​and she gives that every week. This week has been exceptional,” he said. “Ilona could just be herself and I think that’s what I’ve been trying to do all season.”

Maher, 28, who judges Carrie Ann Inaba named Season 33’s Most Improved Contestant during the semifinals, joking, “It only took nine weeks.”

Danny Amendola And Witney Carsonmeanwhile, have done some hugely impressive lifts all season and plan to finish strong with the same wow factor. When asked what viewers can expect from the duo during the finale, Carson, 31, teased: “Something memorable.”

Amendola, 39, added that he and Carson get into a winning mentality by doing “as many reps as we can” and staying “in the zone” no matter what.

“You kind of have to block out all the glitz and glamor of live television and just hone your focus and all the preparation you’ve been doing all week,” the NFL alum said. “So that’s basically what we do.”

“Yeah, we’re just kind of stuck in it,” Carson repeated.

Related: The cast of ‘DWTS’ season 33 tells us what they first thought when they met partners

Dancing With the Stars season 33 features a cast that brings together professional athletes, reality TV royalty, models and more to compete for the coveted Len Goodman Memorial Mirrorball trophy. “I think it will be an excellent season. I think this is one of the few seasons where there really is no automatic frontrunner,” DWTS (…)

While Carson, Bersten and Johnson each have a mirrorball trophy on their resume, season 33 is in sight Brandon Armstrong‘s first time making it to the finals since he was a DWTS pro during season 27.

“It feels great. … I just feel like any word I would put on the emotional aspect of making it for the first time would fall short,” Armstrong, 30, said Us. He and his partner, Chandler Kinneyhave been at the top of the leaderboard all season and have a real chance to win it all.

“What I’m focused on is taking advantage of an opportunity that we are very blessed with to ensure that we replicate something that we are both passionate about, especially for people who come after us and have the opportunity to grow and develop . Armstrong said of his mentality going into the final.

As for how he’ll hype himself up for the big night, Armstrong said he plans to “have a cup of coffee, get sick (and) try not to throw up.”

Although Kinney, 24, seemed skeptical of Armstrong’s “coffee on an empty stomach” habit, she noted that the couple is otherwise on the same page about how they prepare for showtime.

“We actually have to do a lot of things exactly the same way,” she said. “We have our little space that we go into. We have our little zen mode. And just step into our own little world.

The fifth duo that competes for the mirror ball, Stefanus Nedoroscik And Rylee Arnoldfell to the ground in relief after cohost Alfonso Ribeiro announced at the end of the semi-finals that no one would be eliminated.

Arnold, 19, only turned a DWTS pro last season and is also going to the final for the first time. She took to Instagram on Wednesday, November 20, to talk about the milestone and praise her partner.

“I don’t know how to put into words how I felt when I knew we had made it to the final, because it was so special! … I’m just sure little Rylee is looking at where we are today with the biggest smile on her face and it’s so surreal to be realizing my biggest dream,” Arnold wrote. “I am lucky to have Steve with me on this journey and I am sure we were paired together for a reason as I have truly made a lifelong friend from him and it has been the happiest, most fulfilling and most been amazing. season I could ever ask for 🥹 So Steve THANK YOU!!!! WE DID IT!!!!!! 😭😭😭 now let’s go kill the finale!!!!🥳✨🪩🫶🏼.”

The three o’clock Dancing with the stars The season 33 finale airs Tuesday, November 26 at 8pm ET on ABC and Disney+. You can stream the episode the next day on Disney+.

With reporting by Carly Konsker