Strictly Come Dancing gave Tess and Claudia the classy goodbye they deserve ...Middle East

If it wasn’t for the roaring standing ovation as they descended the glittering staircases, you wouldn’t know last night’s final was the last time Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman would ever host Strictly Come Dancing. They wanted the focus to be on the three finalists – Amber Davies, George Clarke, and Karen Carney. They even said as much, when Claudia tried to gaud Tess into a heavily rumoured dance they would apparently be performing to mark their exit.

But the tears came anyway.

It was judge Anton du Beke’s fault, telling Tess that he had loved working with her for the last 25 years. He was crying, pro dancer Carlos was crying, I was crying – and I’m sure we weren’t alone.

For the last two decades Tess and Claudia have been the dependable, proficient – and undeniably glam – guides to a show that has become the joyous backbone of British TV. Their departure from Strictly is a huge deal, and the shoes they leave for some other poor presenters to fill will likely never fit anyone as perfectly.

Strangely, we will see Tess and Claudia host Strictly one more time, on Christmas Day (5.30pm, BBC One). But that’s already been recorded – for them, this is the last time they’ll deal with the pressures of a live Saturday night show, the last time they’ll step onto that famous dance floor.

In the event, I’m not surprised there wasn’t a big song and dance (sorry) over their last live episode. Tess and Claudia are the real stars of Strictly, but they’ve never seen themselves that way – that privilege is left to the competing celebrities and their professional partners. To them, they are merely conduits for the effort, fun and entertainment they radiate every time they leave their hearts on the dance floor.

That dance they had supposedly rehearsed with the pros never materialised. Instead, there were small nods to their time on the show – Claudia’s jacket emblazoned with their “keep dancing” catchphrase, the fringed Claudia wigs everyone wore to announce the voting had opened, the surprise montage of their best bits tacked onto the retrospective look at the series (which, coincidentally, has been one of the best we’ve had in years).

squareSARAH CARSON

The abuse of Amber Davies is pure misogyny

The big moment came when Craig Revel Horwood interrupted them to read the pair of them a letter from a “super fan”. That fan turned out to be none other than Queen Camilla, who wrote of their “warmth, compassion and sheer happiness”, calling them “the greatest Strictly partnership of all.” It was a classy way to say goodbye – and one that highlights just how extraordinary their tenure on the dance floor has been.

It wouldn’t have been right for Tess and Claudia to pull the limelight. The night belonged to Karen Carney, who – along with pro Carlos Gu – was crowned the winner of Strictly Come Dancing 2025. Thirteen weeks ago, she took to the dance floor as a quiet, awkward ex-footballer, but in last night’s final, she was a fully-fledged, self-assured dancer, performing a Jive, an Argentine Tango and the requisite show dance as if she’d been training her whole life.

George and Amber both deserved to be in the final with her – Amber (who, let’s not forget, came in as a last-minute replacement after Dani Dyer dropped out due to injury) has been brilliant from the start, while George has been on a personal journey, discovering his inner confidence and learning to let go of his insecurities. But it’s the detectable dance improvement we saw in Karen that cinched her win – then the glitterball trophy was only ever going to be hers to lift.

Something about a Strictly final will make even the hardest of hearts mushy, and mine soared as I watched Karen struggle to believe she had won. Yet, even as I was ecstatic for her and Carlos, my eyes (and they’d probably hate to hear this) were dragged back to the edge of the screen, where Tess and Claudia were clinging to one another.

This was the elegant, understated goodbye Tess and Claudia most likely wished for. But as they let their tears flow at the side of the mass of celebs and dancers congratulating the winners, a sadness washed over me. It’s the end of an era for Strictly, for British television – and with the BBC’s reputation hanging by a thread, it’s also an immense loss.  

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