by Gina Scarpa

Just two short months ago, JR Martinez and Karina Smirnoff were crowned the winners of the 13th season of Dancing With The Stars. But JR wasn't ready to hang up his dancing shoes just quite yet and reunited with his partner this past weekend at Mohegan Sun Casino. There, they performed their memorable jive and samba routines, took questions from the audience, and signed autographs afterwards. We spent some time talking to him in an exclusive interview about his fans, his partner, and his meaningful win!

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: At the beginning of the season, you said that you thought other celebrities on the show were more well known than you were. When did you start to realize that, not only did a lot of people know you, but were pulling for you and Karina to win Dancing With The Stars?
A. JR: I think I would really have to say after week 3, after our rumba. Week 2 when we did our jive, everybody loved it but then week 3, we did our dedication. The amount of love and feedback we got through Twitter and Facebook... it was a lot of support from a lot of people. I think it was week 3 when I felt like, "Okay you know what? I'm making an impression and people are rooting for me."

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You guys have nailed so many styles - the jive, the samba, the rumba... what is your favorite style to dance?
A. JR: You know, it's different. Karina and I have had multiple conversations about this because every dance was special and meaningful in so many different ways so it's hard to put one above the other. Our jive was amazing, we were both in sync. Our rumba was literally emotional and just to the point where we moved a lot of people and inspired them. I loved our waltz. Our waltz was really good. She loves the quickstep, I loved our freestyle. So it's really tough to pick one or the other. I loved our samba as well. I don't know. It's really tough to pick one over the other. I mean, I think overall, I really like the jive style of dance because it fits my personality. It's fun, it's go, it's happy, it's a lot of energy and that really fits me.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Karina came close to winning with Ralph Macchio last season and even closer back in season 2, when she was paired with Mario Lopez. What did it mean to you, to be able to get that win with her and for her?
A. JR: Well, at the beginning of the season, Ralph came out for the premiere and said, "Listen man, I got her to the goal line. Now, it's your turn to get her into the end zone." The biggest thing for me, it was amazing because she comes from the professional world. She's a very talented dancer. However, a lot of people don't really follow the professional dancing world unless you're in it. Now they start judging the professional dancers based on what they see on Dancing With The Stars. I knew that everyone knew that she was a great dancer but if she won, it would put her in an elite group, even though she's already an elite dancer. She's amazing! I just felt that that would really be a tribute to her on this national level for people to say, "You know what? She won. She's one of the greatest." She's worked her butt off every single season. She's had moments where she's gotten close and I just feel like she deserved it. We've developed such a bond. As much as I wanted to win it for her, she wanted to win it for me too.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: It must be great to keep your partnership going with Karina, even after the show is over, and get out to events like this to perform for and meet the fans.
A. JR: Oh it's amazing! I miss everything about the show. We both miss that Monday night where we get to entertain and dance for everybody. This gives us the opportunity to really go back and keep that alive. People really enjoyed seeing us dance together. To be able to come out to different events is really cool. It's probably more for us than it is for anyone else. It's nice to be able to see each other and it's nice to be able to dance and it's nice for people to be able to see in person what we worked so hard on during the season.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What will you be performing for the fans today?
A. JR: We're gonna be doing the jive and our samba. We're gonna be doing those two dances. They are pretty fast paced dances with a lot of energy, so hopefully everyone will enjoy it. Those are the two styles of dances will be doing. I haven't been working out since the show has ended so hopefully, I can hold up. Deep breaths, oxygen tank to the left! I can just puff puff and keep going!

Check out a video of their event at Mohegan Sun below:

Dancing With The Stars returns this Spring on ABC.

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