Strictly The Final: 6pm tonight (new thread)

Best final ever. Chris and Diane were brilliant.

Congratulations Chris & Diane 👏👏👏

Best final there has been for years. They were all winners in their own way and it was hard to choose.
I voted for Chris and Diane in the end, but Tasha and Aljaž were amazing, as were Sarah and Vito and I was delighted to see JB and Lauren’s Mary Poppins again.

The whole show was so emotional! I was ok until Chris & Diane’s waltz to “ you’ll never walk alone”. That song gets me every time!

I agree they were all winners!

What an excellent series, I feel sorry for the people who said they were no longer watching Strictly now, because that was the best for quite some years in my opinion.

Casdon

What an excellent series, I feel sorry for the people who said they were no longer watching Strictly now, because that was the best for quite some years in my opinion.

Spot on.

Absolutely wonderful. I loved every minute of it. One of the best series ever. And a superb final.

I would have been happy whoever won, but Chris came in as a real non dancer and I have no idea how he was able to do what he did. And how on earth was Diane able to teach him so much?

The standard tonight was so high it was sometimes difficult to tell the professional from the celebrity.

At times, Craig seemed to be viewing a different show with his comments and marks. I wanted JB and Lauren to win, but Chris was my second favourite.

I do not know how Diane managed to teach him so many intricate steps- she deserves a separate medal.

Definitely the highest standard for years.

A fabulous end to a great series. I’ve enjoyed it every week. I watched tonight with my 18 yr old granddaughter and we were both rooting for Chris and Diane to win. But they were all so good tonight and any of them would have been worthy winners.

Thank you for the thread Sparklefizz 😊

I think it was the best semi final and final for years.

Plenty of dance, and not too much ridiculous mindless chat.

I agree Calendargirl - it was outstanding and so emotional, and the final 4 could all have been winners.

Dianne definitely deserves some official recognition for her impressive (and clearly very sympathetic and kind) teaching.

I see online that David Blunkett, as a fellow blind man, has congratulated them and the incredible inspiration they have given others.

I watched the first Strictly programme and then not for weeks until last night .
I'd originally liked Sarah .
Last night I thought that JB and Tasha were very good, but wanted Chris to win .
And he did .
Having had a thrilling day in Primark I don't remember anything else as I fell asleep as soon as he lifted the trophy .
Well done Chris .
You are an inspiration .

Best final I have remembered. I wanted Sasha to win, never seen such a good dancer but Chris was a good winner and Dianne what a teacher. Remarkable.

I loved Craig, he was kind and funny, and also more sensible with his voting. Got a bit tired of all the shrieked "TEN!"s.

I’m glad he won but he wasn’t the best dancer - Tasha was by far the best and the Anton even said to her, ‘you’re probably the best dancer we’ve ever had on the entire series of strictly’ - but the public vote the winner so it’s always down to which personality they like the best.

I have really enjoyed this year and the high standard. Very pleased Chris and Dianne won

Kandinsky

I’m glad he won but he wasn’t the best dancer - Tasha was by far the best and the Anton even said to her, ‘you’re probably the best dancer we’ve ever had on the entire series of strictly’ - but the public vote the winner so it’s always down to which personality they like the best.

Tasha has been dancing since she was 3 years old. She has had plenty of training over the years so she ought to have been good (like Layton last year).

Chris had never danced at all, and couldn't see - no comparison.

Sparklefizz
Absolutely I agree. This is what’s wrong with Strictly, it’s not a level playing field from the start. 50 year old footballers up against 22 year olds with plenty of dance experience.
It’s not a fair contest.
They should really only have celebrities on there that have had no ( professional ) dance experience at all!
The whole show is fundamentally flawed because the best dancer quite often doesn’t win.

I do not think trained dancers like Tasha should be invited to the show.

I also think that we should have been shown the public voting figures for transparency.

Next year, like the originals it should be on one night only.

I enjoyed Tasha’s dance routines every week but would have been disappointed if she and Aljaz won. For me the show is all about seeing the celebrity learning to dance and displaying their progress every week. The progress made by Chris was astonishing. I can’t fathom how Diane taught him those dances and they were deserving winners.

Tasha clearly had a wealth of dance experience but she made the show very entertaining without lifting the trophy. I don’t think any of the other finalists expected to win.

It would be difficult to exclude all celebrities who have previous dance experience. So many of them have passed through stage school and drama classes and are likely to have had some dance experience. Where would they draw the line?

Grannynannywanny said exactly what I wanted to say. Chris definitely the most progressive and with Diane for me definitely the winners this year.

Tasha is like many others before her who were excellent dancers but didn't win. Ashley Roberts and Denise Van Outen are at least two.

It's not what people want as they like to see improvement each week.

It was an amazing final.

Yes, maybe it is a bit fundamentally flawed, but I still love it.
It would be quite difficult to find contestants who are completely the same, I think.