Strictly Come Dancing 2025 announces winner after electric final
It was a tough competition!
After three months of stellar performances, a never-ending supply of glitter and a daily dose of fake tan, the winner of Strictly Come Dancing 2025 has finally been unveiled.
Tonight (20th December), the three celebrities and their professional dance partners took to the ballroom for three final performances – all of which came down to the public vote.
Over the course of the night, George Clarke and Alexis Warr, Karen Carney and Carlos Gu, and Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin all raised the roof in spectacular fashion with their Showdance, judges' pick and favourite dance, but only one couple could be named the champions.
After much anticipation, it was revealed that Karen Carney and Carlos Gu were the Strictly Come Dancing 2025 winners!
Reacting to their win, a visibly shocked Karen Carney said: "I cannot believe it. I just wanna say thank you to everyone that's supported our journey, supported us, and thank you to this wonderful gentleman [Carlos]. We are a team and I couldn't have done this without you. But honestly, I can't believe it. It's been the biggest privilege and honour. And, literally, I'm lost for words, sorry".
Carlos Gu said to Karen: "Thank you, Karen Carney. I love you. And thank you for being so incredible. This whole journey, you taught me so much. And we are completely two different characters, but we challenged each other, we helped each other, we never gave up on each other. And thank you for changing my life."
Karen Carney follows in the footsteps of a long list of famous faces who have lifted the Glitterball, including Chris McCausland, who won the series last year with his partner Dianne Buswell.
Other past winners include Ellie Leach, Hamza Yassin, Rose Ayling-Ellis and Bill Bailey, to name just a few.
Read more:
- Strictly’s Karen Carney praises "fantastic" Carlos Gu as he becomes emotional over potential history-making win
- Strictly’s Amber Davies responds to critics: 'Being confident does not mean you're stuck up'
This season ender marked a special one in Strictly's history, as it was the last live show presented by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, as the pair prepare to leave the glittery series.
Back in October, the pair revealed they would be stepping down from their hosting duties, with this year's Christmas special confirmed to be their last time on the programme.
In a statement shared on Instagram, the duo wrote: "We have loved working as a duo and hosting Strictly has been an absolute dream.
"We were always going to leave together and now feels like the right time.
"We will have the greatest rest of this amazing series and we just want to say an enormous thank you to the BBC and to every single person who works on the show. They’re the most brilliant team and we’ll miss them every day.
"We will cry when we say the last 'keep dancing' but we will continue to say it to each other. Just possibly in tracksuit bottoms at home while holding some pizza."
Strictly Come Dancing is available to watch on catch-up on BBC iPlayer.
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Authors
Katelyn Mensah is the Senior Entertainment Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.
