Key events
Glitterballs and goodbyes next time
As always, thanks for watching along with me, lovely sequin-spangled community. Our remaining three couples now dance into the gala grand final, where they will perform not one, not two, but three full routines apiece in their bid to get their mitts on that ballroom bauble.
It will also mark our live farewell to the Tess-and-Claud dream team. Don’t, you’ll set me off.
The final airs next Saturday at 7pm on BBC1. See you back here to wave our virtual scoring paddles and salute our Strictly 2025 champion. In the meantime, for the penultimate time this series: keeeeep dancing! Thank you and a glittery goodnight.
Finally, limbolaurie says: “Amber isn’t getting public support because she dances in theatres for a living. But perhaps also because Amber’s dances are beautiful but in, my opinion lacking in emotion. Compared to George’s Charleston or Kaz’s waltz, they do not exude feelings. Or is that just me?”
ABH2018 says: “Lovely to see Bal holding Tess’s hand so warmly.”
Somersetlass says: “What a beautiful, graceful exit speech from Bal, with no gushing. I know some people who know her read this blog: please tell her how brilliant she is.”
elfwyn adds: “So sorry to see Balvinder go. She’s been amazing, and what a display of tenacity and determination! I voted for her but mostly for Kaz, who is also amazing. It’s been so lovely to watch both of them improve (I’m not going to use the ‘j’ word) to a level which has delighted and surprised everyone, including themselves. Nothing would make me happier than to see Kaz lift the trophy next week!”
On Balvinder Sopal, ReclinedPotato says: “By rights. Balvinder has had a better journey than George. It’s a quirk of dance and song selection that has given the bloke with a mystery job a timely leg up into the final. Can’t help but feel this is unfair on Bal.”
Jagadox says: “So no surprises there then. I’m sorry to see Bal go. She may not be the best dancer but by god, she showed true grit throughout all those dance-offs.”
AndyPandy21 says: “Balvinder and Julian. What can we say about a wonderful couple who have survived so many dance-offs? They have brought us such joy. I have loved watching them. Balvinder, you have become a beautiful dancer. And Julian, what great coaching and dancing in your first season.”
Shazza2704 adds: “Balvinder has been what Strictly is all about. An absolute trouper. She has been so elegant, humble and funny. Julian too is a find, what a gent. Gutted they have left.”
On the newly qualified finalists, Bigted1980 says: “George is wearing my school tie! Ousedale, Newport Pagnell, 1990ish.”
Phoebe says: “Dear Strictly organisers, please, please, for the first time ever, get a bumper supply of sparkly tissues in the Clauditorium for Carlos and Karen next week. There will be floods of tears and I cannot bear to see Carlos using Claud’s sleeve again.”
TheMathDiva adds: “So we have George, Karen and Amber in the final. The judges will award too many 10s and heap praise upon them all, Amber will probably get 10s all night, but I rather suspect she won’t win because, you know, the ‘journey’. Will it be George or will it be Karen? No way of knowing. I just hope it’s entertaining. So often the final has been an anti-climax. Then we wait to find out who will replace Tess and Claud. We all know they can’t be replaced though, don’t we?”
On the Tess-and-Claud farewell, wtrukus says: “Oh, I’m going to miss the two of them so much. They are so perfect together and perfect for the show.”
pubbore says: “I thought he was going to say they get joint custody of Kai.”
Gardener_Maidhc says: “What, who was that woman? Tess? Really how? Baby Claudia!!!! So pale, barely fringed.”
emilyscatnaps adds: “God, I love Claud and Tessbot! What a fabulous pair of joyful women, making the Strictly experience so much more enjoyable as the years have gone on. Thank you to both of you for being utterly brilliant and quite bonkers (looking at you in particular. Claudia). You really have been AH MAY ZING. You’re going to leave big sparkly heels to fill for whoever comes in… (Zoe Ball, is that you knocking on the door to the studio?)“
Somersetlass says: “The general consensus on Bluesky re Kylie’s song is that it’s one of the worst Christmas songs ever, and also an instant earworm.”
ReclinedPotato adds: “Does Miss Minogue suffer from dry flaky skin, otherwise known as X M A (eczema)? If so, we have two things in common.”
Readers’ results show verdicts are in
A rapidfire round-up of your semi-final thoughts. Storm says: “My TV is becoming a fire hazard from all the padding that’s going into it.”
MartGray says: “Last night we had the final show interviews a week early, now it’s the judges’ best bits? Are they cancelling the final?”
EastofStratford says: “I am glad they did the Claud/Tess thing this week. Next week belongs to the winner. How annoying, though, that both of them – and Kylie for that matter – both look better than they did 20 years ago.”
fihema adds: “Both newbie pros have earned their place in the troupe, haven’t they? Well done, Alexis and Julian. Julian has been an amazing partner for Bal, and seems like a genuinely nice guy. Alexis looks like the next fireball female pro a la Katya. We’ll see. But hats off to both. (And who on earth still says ‘hats off’?).”
Tess and Claud’s leaving do: first leg
They seemed as surprised as we were. This results show featured a poignant farewell to departing co-hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman. I suppose it made sense for them to get a send-off this week. They’ve always insisted that Strictly is about the couples, not them. They wouldn’t want to take attention away from the glitterball winners next week.
We’ll get two more chances to bid the beloved duo a dusty-eyed goodbye. After their live swansong in Saturday’s grand final, the dream team will fully bow out with the Christmas Special, which was prerecorded this week. Expect millions of viewers to be quietly weeping into their Quality Street tins.
Salsa claimed its fourth victim
Would Bal have fared any better if she’d chosen to reprise her waltz? It’s probably academic but Balvinder Sopal became this year’s fourth celebrity to perform a salsa in the dance-off and lose.
Lewis Cope befell the same fate only last week. Chris Robshaw and Thomas Skinner went out on salsa early in the series. The Cuban party style seems to be Strictly’s new dance of death.
In fact, only two contestants have been sent home after a ballroom number this year: Ellie Goldstein (tango) and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (American smooth). Approach Latin at your peril, celebrities.
Three finalists, two potential champions
We now have our three Strictly 2025 finalists. Next week’s showpiece climax will be contested by Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin, George Clarke and Alexis Warr, and Karen Carney and Carlos Gu. They’re three of the four highest-scoring couples in the competition – the controversially eliminated Lewis Cope and Katya Jones are the outliers – so it’s a worthy trio.
Unless Amber enjoys a surge in popularity over the next week, it looks like a straight shoutout between Karen and George for the glitterball trophy. Bookies currently have George as the marginal favourite but not by much. It’s all to dance for next Saturday and we’re totally here for it.
Jules the gent had a dream debut
In his first series on the UK show, Australian professional Julian Caillon made a great impression. Partnered with Balvinder Sopal, the likeable couple had quite the rollercoaster ride, with six dance-offs in 12 weeks.
They can pride themselves on setting a new Strictly record by surviving five of them – testament to their strong bond and fighting spirit. Other pairs would have buckled under such sustained pressure but they took it on the chin and eventually thrived on it. They had cracking chemistry and Julian shed tears of pride at the end.
The Sydney-born pro has been a total gentleman – warm and supportive to his celebrity partner, modest enough to learn from her too, and an all-round treat to watch. He even got to bow out in front of his mum, who’d flown around the world to cheer him on this weekend. What a credit to her he is. See ya next year, mate.
From foxtrots to festive films
TV viewers can stay tuned to BBC1 for The War Between The Land & The Sea or flip to Channel 4 for the semi-final of Game Of Wool: Britain’s Best Knitter.
At 9pm, there’s new travelogue, Accidental Tourist on ITV1 or Alicia Silverstone-starring mystery drama Irish Blood on Sky Witness. At 10.15pm, Super-Pumped: The Battle for Uber is on ITV1.
Film-wise, pick from The Holiday (8.30pm on BBC2), Love Actually (9pm on ITV2), Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (9pm on Film4), Donnie Brasco (9pm on Legend) and Crazy Rich Asians (10.35pm on BBC2).
I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around…
Is Amber just too good to win?
It took something special to see off Balvinder Sopal, this year’s dance-off destroyer. But when she came up against the Amber Davies, the jig was up. Amber has scored three 40s in her last four routines, dropping just three points out of a possible 160. Whoever was drawn against her in this year’s last dance-off was pretty much guaranteed to lose.
Yet despite being the contest’s highest scorer, averaging a whopping 35.5 points per dance across the series, Amber remains the rank outsider for the glitterball trophy. There have been rumblings all series about her being a ringer with too much prior dance experience. These have come home to roost in the home stretch. She’s tumbled into the bottom two for two weeks in a row. Voting stats suggest she hasn’t won over the public and won’t get sufficient backing in the final, which is decided by viewer votes alone.
Her partner Nikita Kuzmin made an impassioned plea on Amber’s behalf last night, tearfully telling her: “You have had so much hate, every single day from the moment you joined. You are so caring. I speak to the audience at home – please be kind, because it costs nothing and Amber doesn’t deserve none of that. All you deserve is love.”
He’s right. Online trolling is never justified. Yet Amber looks destined to join the ranks of Strictly finalists who were glitterball-worthy hoofers but didn’t win our hearts.
A reader pays tribute to Amber
An email just in Daryl J:
Amber and Nikita had the best dance of this series with their Couple’s Choice. They couldn’t have done any more. How they ended up in the dance-off is beyond me. Perhaps she is too good?
A dance-off too far for Bal the great survivor
Well, she would have been one of the most unlikely finalists in Strictly history. In the end, EastEnders actor Balvinder Sopal fell agonisingly short of going all the way but what a journey™ she’s been on.
Consigned to her first dance-off way back in week three, she became the first ever contestant to survive five, beating Jamelia’s record of four. She’s spent the past two months as bookies’ favourite for elimination every weekend but has defied the odds time and again.
When she came up against the near-perfect Amber Davies and her 40-pointer, the sixth time proved fatal but bulletproof Bal has been a comeback queen for the ages. It took grit, courage, mental strength and a cast iron relationship with pro partner Julian Caillon for Bal to keep bouncing back and not lose confidence. Even here, she said it would be a n honour to dance again, while Amber sportingly called her “our own dance-off assassin”. The fact that she lasted nearly the whole series, despite those knock-backs, should be a source of pride.
Balvinder was a truly lovely dancer. Always musical, fluid and graceful, with high performance levels, her own style, and especially elegant arms and hands. Her highlights were her week two Charleston – the first of the series – her Argentine tango in Blackpool, coming runner-up in the inaugural Instant Dance challenge and her exquisite Viennese waltz in Musicals Week. She also broke new ground with her Punjabi-flavoured Couple’s Choice, complete with the ballroom’s first ever dhol drummer.
Balvinder was a Strictly superfan who palpably relished taking part in her favourite show. Going from Walford to Waltzford, from duff-duffs to cha-chas, she’s been an inspiration and one of the stories of the series. What a woman.
Bal and Julian’s last dance
As the departing pair take a farewell spin around the floor to Because You Loved Me by Celine Dion (what no Anyone Can Fall In Love? by Anita Dobson), the credits roll and their castmates crowd around for group hugs. Please stay with us for analysis, reaction and a round-up of your comments.
“Everyone’s been brilliant,” adds Balvinder. “The minute you walk into this building, it’s like a massive hug. It’s such a wonderful place to work. Thank you to the judges. Claud and Tess, I’m grateful that I got to be on the show on your last moment here as well, because you, for me, are what Strictly is about. You’re the era of Len Goodman and Bruce Forsyth. That’s when I started watching it. For me, that’s really special. This year has been full of so many serendipitous moments. I’m so lucky and very happy.”
Lovely use of serendipitous and all.
