So that’s it. Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman have presented their last Strictly show together. It had plenty of the glitter and pizzazz and fake tan viewers have come to love and expect but the usual exuberance felt a little restrained — perhaps a score of 9 rather than the usual 10 — because for most of us the final was less about the dancers and their journeys and very much about the hosts, who announced in October that this series, the 23rd, would be their last. Daly has presented the show since it began in 2004; Winkleman began on the companion show It Takes Two the same year and joined Daly on the main thing in 2014 when Sir Bruce Forsyth retired.

All along they insisted they didn’t want their swansong to overshadow the competition and they did their best to play down the enormity of the moment, leaning into script and format when the emotion threatened to overwhelm. But we all know that the absolute joy of this show, which has lit up the countdown to Christmas since 2004, owes a huge debt to Tess’n’Claud, their relationship and their light-touch mastery as anchors. They were the first female duo to host a British primetime entertainment show, and were awarded MBEs for their troubles this year. Only when the warmth is this genuine, the wit this quick, the professionalism this polished does live TV truly take flight. They’re so good, in other words, they make it look like a doddle.

The former Lioness Karen Carney and her partner Carlos Gu beat the West End actress Amber Davies and YouTuber George Clarke to carry off the Glitterball trophy but — sorry guys — the winning ways we cared most about were those of Tess’n’Claud.

Karen Carney and Carlos Gu celebrate with a glitterball trophy and confetti.

There was Keep Dancing — the words they’ve used to wrap up each episode — on the back of Claudia’s jacket. There were the black wigs everyone put on when voting opened (those Claudia fringes were one way to make sure they went out with a bang). There was the moment when we thought they might finally give us a dance together (they did not. As the judge Anton de Beke said in the “best bits” reel we saw in last week’s results show, “After 20 years neither have learnt a step of dancing.”).

Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman on stage for "Strictly Come Dancing 2025"

The bit that got both gasping was the moving tribute, read out by a trembling Craig Revel Horwood, from the Queen (accidentally demoted from Her Majesty to HRH). “I have often thought that Strictly is not so much a show about dancing as about friendships: the bonds forged, the struggles overcome and the joy shared in undertaking a joint endeavour,” she wrote. “If that is true, then perhaps yours has been the greatest Strictly partnership of all.” She praised “the warmth, compassion and sheer happiness” they have radiated, adding, “I think I speak for everyone when I say you have been utterly fab-u-lous.”

“Fab-u-lous”, the hard-won praise occasionally issued by panto-villain judge Craig (himself a Strictly stalwart since the get-go, along with du Beke and lead singer Tommy Blaize), summed up much of the dancing.

Craig Revel Horwood reading from a card to Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman on Strictly Come Dancing.

Craig Revel Horwood reads out the Queen’s tribute

GUY LEVY/BBC

Each couple danced three routines — one requested by the judges, an original showdance and their own pick. Carney brought endless energy to the jive she’d first performed in week one, showing with a perfect score of 40 how far she’s come. The first footballer to win the show, she’s someone whose modesty and team spirit have shone through and won her endless fans, not least her partner Carlos Gu. “She taught me how to be a kind and humble person,” he said through tears afterwards.

Strictly Come Dancing 2025 presenters Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly with contestants Karen Carney and Carlos Gu.

Carney and Gu

GUY LEVY/BBC

George Clarke and his partner Alexis Warr must have been pipped at the post; they had a strong night of upbeat, assured dances that showed off his journey too (the audience loves a journey). “You went from George the beginner to George the warrior,” said the judge Shirley Ballas after their paso doble to Game of Survival by Ruelle. Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin perhaps weren’t at the top of their game but they glided and flipped and grinned and wept, with credit to her for coming back despite “all the noise outside” — his reference to the online criticism of her for having the audacity to have danced before.

The big group number reunited the class of 2025, including those — plural — who had dropped out with injuries. (To lose one dancer to injury may be regarded as misfortune, Lady Bracknell might have said, but two…)

Missing in (legal) action was Tom Skinner, the former Apprentice contestant who was voted off in week one and may now follow in the footsteps of his pal JD Vance’s boss Donald and sue the BBC over election interference. Skinner alleges vote-rigging, which the BBC says is “entirely without foundation”.

This year has not been short of eyebrow-raising departures — bookies’ favourite Lewis Cope in week 11, audience favourite La Voix in week nine, director-general Tim Davie in week eight — but Daly and Winkleman’s exit is undoubtedly the biggest for the show. Replacements have yet to be decided — potential candidates include Zoe Ball, Alan Carr and Angela Scanlon — and there has been speculation that the producers will give Strictly a fallow year. We might just need that extra year to get over our Claudia-and-Tesslessness. Reading out the terms and conditions about the voting, Claudia said she’d even miss that bit. There’s no question we’ll all miss T&C.