J.R. Martinez and his partner, Karina Smirnoff, took home the mirror ball trophy on last night’s Dancing with the Stars finale! Martinez, a wounded Iraqi war vet turned soap star, won the public over with his personality, compelling story and incredibly coordinated moves. Coming in second was Kim Kardashian’s little brother, Rob, who improved immensely this season and earned perfect scores from the judges on Monday. Ricki Lake and her partner Derek Hough were a close third.

After a topsy-turvy season of sore ankles and even sorer losers, Dancing with the Stars ended Tuesday night by pitting an unlikely frontrunner against a heroic survivor.

After Ricki Lake, 43, was eliminated earlier in the show, Rob Kardashian, 24, the reality TV brother often overshadowed by his famous – and infamous – older sisters went against J.R. Martinez, 28, the soldier-turned-actor whose triumph over severe burns received in Iraq brought raw emotion to the ballroom.

For their final dance, a samba which both couples had to choreograph on the fly, each earned perfect scores, leaving Kardashian with a one point lead after two nights of competition. But the judges’ scores make up only half the final results. Once the viewers’ votes were tabulated, the winner was determined. Keep reading to find out who won:

It was J.R. Martinez and Karina Smirnoff!

Smirnoff covered her face and began crying when she heard the news.

“First and foremost, I want to thank everyone who voted for us for 10 weeks,” Martinez said. “Thank you, America, for believing in us.”

Then he addressed his dance partner, telling Karina, “You are amazing, and I’m so grateful I was able to be a part of your first mirror-ball trophy.”

When he was awarded his mirror-ball trophy, Martinez hoisted it high above his head as confetti rained down.

Runner-up Rob Kardashian, who was paired with Cheryl Burke, echoed Martinez’s celebratory sentiments. “I’m super thankful,” he said, after the results were announced. “This is such a crazy experience. I’m definitely not sad. I won in my book.”

[From People]

I’m really happy for J.R. I’ve only seen a few episodes this season, but I found the guy so likable and he’s definitely the best dancer. It’s surprising because usually the best dancers are athletes who are necessarily more attuned to their bodies, but he’s a soldier, a motivational speaker and an actor. His website reveals that he nearly played professional football coming out of high school, but that he suffered an injury in his senior year and ended up enlisting in the army instead. Congratulations to J.R. and Karina!

Announcement of the winners

Recap of this week’s dances

Over the last few years actress and former talk show host Ricki Lake has dropped a ton of weight – 140 pounds in fact. Instead of getting surgery, she did it with the traditional sensible diet, exercise, and patience. Lake says she can’t believe she was fat for most of her life – and she also says she can’t promise that she’ll never be fat again.

Ricki Lake has trimmed 140 lbs. from her all-time top weight of 270 pounds – and says she is holding steady. “I can’t believe I was a fat person for most of my life,” the former talk show host, rocking a sexy black Herve Leger dress (size small), told PEOPLE at a recent benefit for the New Space for Women’s Health, a New York City birthing center slated to open in 2010. “I didn’t have surgery and I worked hard. There’s no secret. I’m active. I watch what I eat,” Lake, 40, adds.

But she’s certainly not immune to the pressure to stay thin. “According to Hollywood standards, I’m not a thin girl. I’m a normal girl,” says the mom of two boys, Milo, 11, and Owen, 6. “I don’t want to perpetuate that obsession but yet I am also guilty of wanting … to lose weight.” Lake sticks to meals delivered by a service called Fresh Dining (“It’s organic, it’s fresh, and I still love it,” she says) but admits unpredictable factors in life could one day interfere.

“With the weight stuff I don’t have any answers,” she says. “Something tragic in my life could happen and I could balloon and gain weight. I can’t promise I will be like this forever.”

[From People]

Ricki says that while she doesn’t need to lose any more weight, she doesn’t plan to be lenient with herself over Christmas. She has a pregnancy book coming out that she has to promote, and wants to look good.

Ricki made a great documentary called “The Business of Being Born” in 2007 that examined the birth process in America. It got really good reviews, and she’s currently working on a sequel. Ricki strikes me as really smart and empathic, and also very realistic. Hopefully she’ll be able to keep the weight off, but I like that she isn’t making any promises about it.

Here’s Ricki at the CNN Heroes event in Hollywood on November 22. Unfortunately she’s not wearing the most flattering dress. Photographer: Jody Cortes. Images thanks to WENN.

Former talk show host Ricki Lake produced a fabulous documentary called “The Business of Being Born,” which was about the maternity care system in America. You actually see Lake give birth in the film. It premiered at the Tribecca Film Festival last year, and though I didn’t see it, one of my friends did and said it was phenomenal – though kind of scary for those of us freaked out by the thought of childbirth. Lake has screened the film across the country to rave reviews, and has taken her activism up a notch: she recently spoke at the United Nations about birth-related death rates.

I spoke at the UN. It was a new initiative, Deliver Now, looking at the maternal and infant death rates around the world and I led a rally in Bryant Park on this new initiative and then I moderated a panel with the heads of UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the UNFTA, the Prime Minister of Norway announced he was giving a billion dollars to take on this issue because—it’s amazing I’m now this advocate for women and children and midwives, in particular but then they asked me, I feel like I can’t be articulate, I’m so—but I got to kind of do something that takes me further, like dealing with world issues, globally looking at why, in Somalia, one woman in six dies during childbirth and it’s so easily preventable so this guy, this hot Prime Minister, he’s hot! I was like, “I’ll have your baby, I’ll move to Norway and have your baby.” He was amazing so he’s pledged this amount of money until 2015 and hope that other countries come on board as well. It will hopefully change the numbers.

[From OK!]

I kind of wish she was able to talk about such an important issue without talking about hot guys in the same sentence, but c’est la vie. I really love stories of people that are struggling and turn their lives around. Ricki wasn’t struggling financially, but most people would agree that her old talk show really ushered in the wave of Ricki Lake/Jerry Springer crap. But she’s really turned things around and made a great film and become an advocate for women’s health, and that’s fabulous.

In terms of her own health, Ricki’s weight loss really is inspirational. Unlike a lot of famous people who shed massive amounts of weight through surgery, Lake took it off the old fashioned way: diet and lots of exercise. She lost over 140 pounds and looks phenomenal – and you can tell she’s gained a lot of muscle. She’s a great example of the way people can completely turn around every aspect of their lives.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Ricki with Marissa Jaret Winokur and John Waters at Line Cinema’s 40th Anniversary Gala at Lincoln Center on October 5th. Images thanks to PR Photos.