Strictly Come Dancing final: Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton crowned 2018 winners

The other couples who made it to the final round were Ashley Roberts and her partner Pasha Kovalev, Faye Tozer and her partner Giovanni Pernice, and Joe Sugg and Dianne Buswell

BBC documentary presenter Stacey Dooley and her professional partner Kevin Clifton have won Strictly Come Dancing 2018.

The pair came out on top after a public vote in Saturday night’s final, following three months of competition. Following the announcement, she told Clifton: “I should say something quite poignant, shouldn’t I? You know how highly I think of you. I think you are the biggest gem.

“It’s no surprise you have been in the final as many times as you have. It’s daunting doing something you haven’t done before. But he’s so patient and he walks you through. You so deserve this. You so deserve this.”

The pair opened by dancing the foxtrot to “Hi Ho Silver Lining” by Jeff Beck in a motorcycle-themed routine. Judge Shirely Ballas said Dooley was capable of a perfect performance if she added “a tiny little more clarity and quality” to her previous rendition.

Fellow judge Bruno Tonioli said: “What you have is the ability to bring every character into every dance. You have this ability to inhabit every character.” Dooley earned a cumulative score of 39 out of a possible 40 points for the routine.

For the final dance, Dooley and Clifton took on the paso doble to “Malaguena” by Brian Setzer, eliciting the loudest cheer of the night. Bruno hailed her “sass” and fellow judge Craig Revel Horwood said her dance had been “powerful and driven”.

Dooley scored a cumulative total of 39, with only Revel Horwood handing her a nine to resounding boos from the studio audience.

The other couples who made it to the final round were Ashley Roberts and her partner Pasha Kovalev, Faye Tozer and her partner Giovanni Pernice, and Joe Sugg and Dianne Buswell.

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