After 13 iconic weeks, the Strictly Come Dancing 2023 champion is…

By Katelyn Mensah

Published: Saturday, 16 December 2023 at 21:01 PM


After 13 show-stopping weeks, just three celebrities and their professional dancers remained in the Strictly Come Dancing competition, until it was just one, as Ellie Leach was announced as the winning celebrity for 2023.

Tonight’s thrilling show, saw all three finalists dance to the best of their ability all with the hopes of lifting the coveted Glitterball trophy.

The grand final saw the celebrities perform three routines: A showdance, the judges’ pick and their favourite dance.

Ellie has had a truly epic time on the show and finally scored her first 40 of the series after performing her final dance.

There were originally 15 famous faces in the competition all raring to go and with the hope of winning the iconic competition.

Those who took part in the 2023 show included Les Dennis, Nikita Kanda, Jody Cundy CBE, Eddie Kadi, Amanda Abbington, Zara McDermott, Adam Thomas, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Angela Rippon, Angela Scanlon, Nigel Harman and Annabel Croft.

Unfortunately there were two celebrities who had to bow out of the competition early. Amanda Abbington left Strictly Come Dancing after just five weeks in the competition, and she later explained her withdrawal was due to “personal reasons”.

Casualty’s Nigel Harman withdrew from the competition a week before the semi-final due to an injury.

A BBC spokesperson confirmed his exit at the time: “Unfortunately Nigel has sustained an injury which means he is unable to perform in tonight’s show and has had to withdraw from Strictly.”

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While the dancing show is over for another year, fans will be able to get their extra dose of Strictly soon with an extra special festive episode airing in a little over a week.