‘Dancing’ champ wins trophy, loses fiancee

NEW YORK - Helio Castroneves won the mirrorball trophy on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” but lost his fiancee, Aliette Vazquez.

Less than a day after Castroneves was declared the winner, Vazquez, a Miami-based business executive, announced she had called off her engagement to the Brazilian race-car driver.

“There’s been a lot of rumors and a lot of stuff said, and she just wanted confirmed that they are no longer engaged. There’s no animosity, there’s nothing mean. Just a simple confirmation,” Vazquez’s publicist, Howard Bragman, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The “Dancing” winner confirmed to Access Hollywood that his engagement has been over “for one or two weeks.”

Was Bragman hinting at viewer speculation that something seemed to be brewing between Castroneves and his dance partner, Julianne Hough?

“I’m not gonna talk about the rumors. I mean, they’re clearly out there,” said Bragman.

“I will tell you (that) we wanted to be respectful and wait until the show was over,” he said. “We did not want to affect the outcome of the show.”

While Castroneves said that Vazquez was not happy with a kiss he shared with Hough during their quickstep dance last night, Castroneves told Access, “I was like, ‘Yea! I got a kiss, yea!”

Castroneves and Hough insist that there is nothing going on off the dance floor and when asked, they said together, “Noooooo. We are just friends.” Hough, who was also partnered with last year’s champ, Apolo Anton Ohno, added, “There was nothing with Apolo last season and there’s nothing with Helio now.”

Bragman said Castroneves and Vazquez had been together for more than six years and became engaged last year.

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Castroneves out-danced finalists Melanie Brown and Marie Osmond on Tuesday night’s show.

He confirmed his split with Vazquez to People.com, saying he preferred to keep his “private life private.”

In an interview that was to air Wednesday night on “Inside Edition,” Castroneves described Vazquez as “a great person.”

“I’m sure we’re going to be friends and now is a moment I’m going to enjoy,” he said. “It’s a shame. It is what it is.”

Hough called off her engagement to dancer Zach Wilson earlier this year.

“I’m 19. I’m really focused on my career. We’re really good friends,” she told the syndicated entertainment TV show of her split with Wilson.

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Sparks flew this season between “Cheetah Girl” Sabrina Bryan and her dance partner, Mark Ballas. Two seasons ago, Mario Lopez and Karina Smirnoff reportedly generated heat off the dance floor.

“I know Helio and I’ve known him a long time and I think he’s a good guy — and I think she’s a good guy — and it’s just a tough situation,” Bragman said. “And I want them to get through it as painlessly as possible.”

The Associated Press and Access Hollywood contributed to this report.

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