Jimmy Kimmel predicts Dancing with the Stars Season 23 winner

Jimmy Kimmel reveals who he’s betting $1,000 on to win the 23rd season of Dancing with the Stars.

Jimmy Kimmel always does a good job of promoting the latest seasons of ABC’s long-running reality shows like Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor, as well as its many spin-offs. With the latest season of the dancing competition series debuting Monday night amid controversy, the late-night host once again took it upon himself to predict which contestant will be named the winner for Season 23 during his opening monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

After joking that the show has been running since 1973, currently entering Season 85, the host complimented the latest edition’s lineup, which includes Ryan Lochte, who’s getting a “much-needed chance to further dishonor himself and his country,” former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Vanilla Ice, who danced to his hit song “Ice Ice Baby” on the first night.

“He did all his hits, tonight. On the first show,” Kimmel said.

He then explained that before the start of every season, he gambles on which star he thinks will take home the mirror ball trophy, betting $1,000 of his own money. The comedian currently has a record of accurately predicting the winner eight out of 17 times.

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The show’s security guard, Guillermo, then revealed the piece of paper where Kimmel wrote his selection, which was placed in a tiny briefcase and then shoved into his mouth. He chose Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez, who tied for first place on Monday’s premiere.

Kimmel next spoke to Hernandez via the Wall of America to reveal the announcement to her. After telling her that he was predicting that she would be the winner, the host urged her to increase the amount of time she practices to beyond four hours a day.

Kimmel then asked the 16-year-old why she wasn’t currently in school, but she revealed that she’s been home-schooled since she was in the third grade, before dodging a question on whether she would trade her Olympic gold medal for the mirror ball trophy that stood beside her.

The comedian expressed surprise that the athlete knew who Vanilla Ice was before the competition after she quoted one of his lyrics that she says she rapped to him the first time she met him. Kimmel closed by pleading with her not to let him down “like Ian Ziering did.”

“I’ve never felt this strongly about a competitor on this particular program,” he declared.

Watch the entire clip below:

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Hernandez may have closed out the night by delivering one of the strongest performances, but it was an incident involving her fellow Olympian that grabbed most of the headlines the next day. Lochte was rushed by protesters while he was being critiqued by judge Carrie Ann Inaba after his routine. Two men were arrested after being tackled to the ground by security guards, which resulted in the swimmer injuring his ankle a bit, according to his partner Cheryl Burke.

Dancing with the Stars is currently reevaluating its security protocol in light of the incident. The protestors have since explained that Lochte’s behavior in Brazil is what prompted them to rush the stage. His fabrication of a robbery at a Rio gas station led him to being widely mocked by several late-night hosts like John Oliver and Stephen Colbert, as well as Jimmy Fallon at the VMAs.

Jimmy Kimmel Live airs Monday through Thursday at 11:35 p.m. on ABC.