The Last Waltz

Dec 19, 2025 by Rob

Tess and Claudia’s last ever live Strictly show marks the end of an era and is going to be a poignant moment tomorrow night. It also risks throwing some shade over what already feels like a bit of an anticlimactic grand final.

The Stefan Dennis and La Voix withdrawals, the latter of which requiring a bye week to be instigated in Blackpool, left TPTB with difficult decisions to make, and Lewis ending up the scapegoat.

A ringer who could potentially steal the limelight, due to that iconic Couple’s Choice routine, seemingly became surplus to requirements, and had to be replaced in the grand final by a ringer who can’t win in Amber. Why? Because they are determined that a perceived novice wins. No matter the outcry and the loss of viewing figures, and no matter that one of those novices is not really a novice at all (Karen).

Their intentions have been crystal clear starting in Blackpool Week, with all the dark arts pointing to Karen being this year’s Plan A. She has been granted 13 of her 16 tens in the last four weeks. Contrast that with George’s five tens.

And yet, George remains a nagging threat despite a blatant hand break being applied to him across the entire series. Dances and songs that didn’t marry together well, keeping him firmly in his Gen Z lane, qualified praise…

Not a single standing ovation from Motsi and Shirley for George, including his Blackpool, pimp-slotted 39-scoring salsa, tells its own story. He’s been cast as the chronic underachiever for a reason. TPTB would prefer him not to win.

And this week we learned George is on next year’s live tour and Karen isn’t. It used to be a general rule tourers were given a helping hand during the series, and non-tourers thrown under a bus. With Lewis and Vicky also touring this trend has been thoroughly upended.

You can only conclude it’s what Karen and Carlos represent to the ever impartial BBC that has seen this enormous push in their favour.

The judges have chosen Karen’s week 6 (Halloween Week), Peaky Blinders-inspired AT (38). That was the week of Lewis’s spellbinding CC and you wonder how close he was to Karen on the pv that week, and whether this is partly behind his absence from this year’s grand final.

In the first round of dances, Amber will perform her week 8, 38-scoring paso, George his week 7, 34-scoring VW. Karen’s best routine of the series was undoubtedly her paso but TPTB clearly think her AT has even more impact.

Karen’s showdance is likely to incorporate similar elements we saw in her CC, set to a speeded up version of ‘Inner Smile’. She will finish by reprising her week 1, leaderboard-topping jive (31).

At the time it looked like she was setting too high a bar for herself and the optics weren’t great with her and Carlos in their football kits. TPTB will presumably be hoping Karen already has an unassailable lead by the final round of dances.

With Amber also reprising jive as her and Nikita’s favourite dance, this points to George performing second on the night, with either Karen or Amber on last. Any bookie would price up Karen as odds-on favourite for the pimp slot.

Two jives on the night and two pasos feels like a discordant mix of grand final routines. It’s doubtful George’s week 2, 30-scoring paso will outscore Amber’s week 8, 38-scoring one, but there is the possibility of Karen’s jive being scored the same perfect 40 as Amber’s.

They did, after all, place Karen top of the semi-final combined leaderboard, almost as a statement of her progress across the series, and her now being a match for the trained semi-professional (Amber).

Semi-final (week 12) judges’ leaderboard:

Karen and Carlos – Waltz (3) – 9, 10, 10, 10 = 39 – Salsa (7) – 9, 10, 10, 10 = 39 = 78
Amber and Nikita – Tango (2) – 9, 10, 9, 9 = 37 – CC (6) – 10, 10, 10, 10 = 40 = 77 – bottom 2
George and Nikita – Samba (4) – 8, 9, 9, 9, = 35 – Charleston (8) – 8, 9, 10, 10 = 37 = 72
Balvinder and Julian – Salsa (1) – 8, 9, 9, 9 = 35 – Waltz (5) – 8, 9, 9, 9 = 35 = 70 – eliminated

Strictly tends not to miss in terms of its grand final coronations. Bill Bailey’s was a textbook one vs HRVY – pyrotechnics coming out of his guitar headstock, Oti pirouetting towards the studio ceiling on an aerial hoop, endorsement from the members of Queen et al. You have to go back to Jay McGuiness winning ten years ago despite TPTB’s best efforts to get him beaten as the last time they’ve not got their desired winner (Kellie Bright).

That gives George backers hope of an upset. Factor in the overriding sense of Karen and George’s public vote being neck and neck across much of the series, and it’s not a foregone conclusion. He also produced two of his most memorable routines in last week’s semi-final, and has built some late momentum.

Balvinder’s vote might move more in Karen’s direction than the other two finalists, and as much as Amber looks a non-contender for the Glitterball trophy she will earn strongest female finalist votes for her sheer excellence, taking away partly from Karen.

A pioneering female winner in the last year of Tess and Claudia, the pioneering female co-hosts…? That might just be why Karen’s narrative is the one TPTB have determinedly latched onto, and one they will want to see reach a triumphant, feel-good conclusion.

Please do let us know who got your grand final vote(s) when the exit poll opens at the start of tomorrow night’s show. And we will aim to post the result shortly after the final round of dances.

Strictly 2025 Exit Poll – Grand Final

Grand final dances & songs:

Amber & Nikita:

Showdance to Rain On Me by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande
Judges’ Pick – Paso Doble to Dream On by Aerosmith
Favourite Dance – Jive to Proud Mary

George & Alexis:

Showdance to Human by The Killers
Judges’ Pick – Viennese Waltz to Somebody to Love by Queen
Favourite Dance – Paso Doble to Game of Survival by Ruelle

Karen & Carlos:

Showdance to Inner Smile by Texass
Judges’ Pick – Argentine Tango to Red Right Hand by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Favourite Dance – Jive to One Way Or Another by Blondie