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Our Strictly finalists\u2122<\/p>\n
The three pairings come out for welcome waves. Not much fancy dress but their outfits do offer clues to their first dances. Peaky Blinders for Kaz. Nikita currently has a top on but that might well change *oils up*.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a>Grand entrance by the judges<\/p>\n The esteemed paddle-raising panel arrive in best bib-and-tucker for the last time this series. Motsi Mabuse in fabulous gold with a huge bow (twinkle winkle indeed). Shirley Ballas in a black gown accessorised with home-made Bacofoil Christmas decoration. Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood have been using their Moss Bros loyalty cards and are in matching cream tuxedos.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Frockwatch<\/p>\n Here come our hostly duo, so time for the last ever live couture comparison. Sniffle. Tess Daly is rose-gold sequins with one shoulder. Asymmetric at both ends, obv. Claudia Winkleman in a classic black tuxedo suit. No winners or losers, just love.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n This is rather rousing, despite the soundtrack being a bit like a Jive Bunny Eurodisco medley.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The three finalists make their entrance on a UFO-type contraption, sparks-flying, and join in the fun. Because what they really needed this week was a fourth dance to learn.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Pros open the show in style<\/p>\n The choreographic action kicks off with a dazzling group routine from our professional dancers. It\u2019s a riot of pink with Johannes Radebe leading the way.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Roll the traditional VT to crank up the drama. Moody shots! Bombastic voiceovers! Glitterball dreams!<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Aaaaand we\u2019re off!<\/p>\n Our last chance to enjoy this year\u2019s title sequence. What\u2019s your favourite bit? For me, it\u2019s a dance-off between Ellie Goldstein\u2019s har-toss, Ross King\u2019s Carry On face and La Voix pushing Alja\u017e \u0160korjanec out of shot. We\u2019ll be seeing all but one of these couples again shortly, of course.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Refresh drinks, stock up on snacks and strap in. We\u2019re about to go over live to the Elstree Studios ballroom for the last time this series\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Warm up with a Strictly stat attack<\/p>\n Just time for a few swift pre-final factoids. Amber Davies is the highest scorer in the competition overall with 461 points so far – 35 points ahead of anyone else. There\u2019s only 12 points between Karen Carney in second place and George Clarke in third.<\/p>\n Amber has received 17 perfect 10s this series. Karen\u2019s got 16 and George just five. Craig Revel Horwood has only given out six maximums, while his fellow judges are all up in the high teens. However, it\u2019s still Craig\u2019s most generous-scoring series ever.<\/p>\n Buckle up, it\u2019s ballroom blast-off in a mere five minutes\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Supermatch game, supermatch game! The Blankety Blank Christmas Special is just wrapping up on BBC1. Our own Motsi Mabuse is among the celebrity blank-fillers. She currently seems to be trying to make the phrase \u201ctwinkle winkle\u201d happen.<\/p>\n Shame that host Bradley Walsh didn\u2019t inherit Terry Wogan\u2019s trademark wand mic. Not long to wait now\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Glittery goodbyes and tear-streaked fake tan<\/p>\n Tonight marks a bittersweet milestone as longtime co-hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman bid farewell to the show they\u2019ve hosted for 21 and 15 years respectively. Keep tissues close to hand. It could be a lip-wobbler.<\/p>\n This is only their live swansong, though. They\u2019ll be back on our screens to present the pre-recorded festive special on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n Start plumping your sparkliest sofa cushions, it\u2019s 10 minutes until the clock strikes sequins\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a>On your dance cards tonight<\/p>\n We\u2019ll see a textbook Strictly pick \u2019n\u2019 mix of styles in tonight\u2019s final. There\u2019s just one traditional ballroom routine (George\u2019s Viennese waltz), one Argentine tango (from Karen), a pair of jives (from Karen and Amber) and a pair of paso dobles (from George and Amber) – plus of course, those three eagerly awaited showdances.<\/p>\n Start some light stretching and crisp consumption. It\u2019s 15 minutes until grand final o\u2019clock\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.54 EST<\/p>\n Let\u2019s play Strictly final bingo<\/p>\n Tick them off when you spot them on screen! Take a drink for each! Wake up under the Christmas tree in a blind panic that you\u2019ve slept until Boxing Day! Here\u2019s your last 10-point spotter\u2019s guide of the series\u2026<\/p>\n Craig deems a dance \u201cone word: a-may-zing\u201d or \u201cone word: fab-u-lous\u201d<\/p>\n Carlos Gu cries, which sets off Jojo Radebe, then everybody else<\/p>\n Tess tells a celebrity \u201cthe crowd are on their feet\u201d or \u201clook at your little face\u201d<\/p>\n A Lioness or YouTuber cheers on their friend from the front row of the studio audience<\/p>\n Celeb describes their \u201cjourney\u201d as a \u201crollercoaster\u201d or \u201cthe best experience of my life\u201d<\/p>\n Heartstring-tugging messages from loved ones precision-tooled to make the finalists cry on-camera<\/p>\n Julian Caillon or Nikita Kuzmin gets their bare chest out<\/p>\n A finalist unconvincingly insists they don\u2019t care about the result because \u201cI\u2019m already a winner\u201d<\/p>\n Celeb describes their pro partner as \u201cpart of the family\u201d or \u201ca friend for life\u201d<\/p>\n Ginger Neil or Katya Jones manoeuvre their way to the front of Clauditorium to hog the camera<\/p>\n Share<\/a>One celeb missing from group number<\/p>\n The final traditionally sees the complete cast return to the ballroom one last time for a riotous group dance. However, there\u2019ll be one absentee tonight: Thomas \u201cTommy Bosh\u201d Skinner, who\u2019s alleging that the elimination result was rigged. He\u2019s reportedly suing the BBC<\/a> for suppressing his votes. I suspect the BBC\u2019s lawyers are too busy suppressing their laughter.<\/p>\n Anyway, the ex-Apprentice candidate has effectively fired himself, pulling out of tonight\u2019s show. No great loss hoofing-wise – he was first out, if you recall – but a shame for his pro partner Amy Dowden. She really does have no luck.<\/p>\n Twenty minutes until we go from boardroom to ballroom\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.41 EST<\/p>\n Kaz Carney is red hot bookies\u2019 favourite<\/p>\n The former Lioness is the odds-on with bookmakers to lift the twinkly trophy tonight. George Clarke is their second favourite, with Amber Davies as the rank outsider. But will voting viewers agree? We\u2019ll get our first choreographic clues in 25 minutes\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Three couples, three chances to impress<\/p>\n Our finalists will perform three routines apiece tonight: their own favourite from the series, a dance chosen by the judges and, of course, the only one us viewers haven\u2019t seen before: their anything-goes showdance.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a chance to show off what they\u2019ve learned over the past 13 weeks and for their pro partners to flex their choreography muscles. There are no rules and no limits on how many styles they can combine. Tricks, lifts and gimmicks are positively encouraged, so expect our pairings to throw everything at their last chance to wow.<\/p>\n Can. Not. Wait. But we must. It\u2019s half-an-hour until the sparkly curtain comes up\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Who\u2019ll get the glitterball trophy for a Christmas gift?<\/p>\n We started with 15 pro-celebrity pairs and now we\u2019re down to just three. Over 13 weeks, 125 couple\u2019s dances have lit up the BBC<\/a> ballroom. Now the 23rd series draws to a close with three last dances apiece and only one glitterball winner. That\u2019s a lot of numbers \u2013 and we\u2019re about to see even more.<\/p>\n Good evening and welcome to the big one. Yes, it\u2019s the grand finale of Strictly Come Dancing 2025. I\u2019m Michael, your cyber dance partner for tonight\u2019s showpiece occasion. I\u2019d love you to watch along with me as our finalists pull out all the sparkly stops in their quest to lift that coveted, if slightly gaudy, trophy.<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s semi-final saw record-breaking comeback queen Balvinder Sopal finally bite the dust, leaving us with our final three. Karen Carney is bookies\u2019 favourite, followed by the popular George Clarke, with three-time dance-off survivor Amber Davies the outside bet. Yet the judging panel\u2019s scores are purely for guidance and the result is solely down to the public vote, so anything could happen on the night. Who will succeed Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell as your champions?<\/p>\n Tonight\u2019s epic live spectacular also sees boyband 5ive performing in the ballroom and the Strictly class of 2025 reuniting for one last razzle-dazzle number. It promises to be a rousing crescendo to another cracking series.<\/p>\n It\u2019s showtime at 7pm on BBC One. I\u2019ll be liveblogging from 6.30pm, providing build-up, rolling coverage, analysis, reaction, nerdy stats and ballroom backchat. So for the last Saturday night of the year, pour yourself a pre-festive libation, raid the Christmas snack cupboard and I\u2019ll see you on the sofa.<\/p>\n As always, I\u2019d love to hear from you too. You can tweet me @michaelhogan, contact me on Bluesky or Threads @michaelhogan100, email me michael.hogan.freelance@guardian.co.uk<\/a> and the comments section below is open for grand final conflab. I\u2019ll study it like Craig Revel Horwood looking for Charleston swivel and quote a selection of your comments up top.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the ballroom\u2019s big night and things could be tight. Nearly time to staaaaart glitterball-winning!<\/p>\n