Singer Anne-Marie has been crowned the winner of the 2021 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special, earning a perfect score of 40 from the judges alongside professional partner Graziano Di Prima. The 30-year-old pop star and coach on The Voice performed a thrilling cha cha that secured her victory in the festive instalment of the BBC One show on Christmas Day.
Anne-Marie and Di Prima landed joint top of the leaderboard with former Bake Off presenter Mel Giedroyc and Neil Jones, whose couple's choice routine to Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby also earned a perfect score. The judges praised Giedroyc's comically infused dance, which included dancing penguin holograms, with Shirley Ballas remarking: 'You absolutely sum up the joy of Christmas.'
The Repair Shop's Jay Blades and Luba Mushtuk scored 34 for their jive to the Only Fools and Horses theme song, Hooky Street. Blades received a video message from Sir David Jason, who played Del Boy in the sitcom, joking about royalties and ending with the show's famous line: 'You know it makes sense.'
First Dates host Fred Sirieix and Dianne Buswell opened the show with a quickstep earning 38 points, while newsreader Moira Stuart and Aljaz Skorjanec performed a salsa that Craig Revel Horwood said he 'really, really enjoyed.' TV presenter Adrian Chiles and Jowita Przystał were praised for their American smooth, which Ballas called 'so warming.'
The studio audience voted for the winner, combining their votes with judges' scores after all routines. The show, presented by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, also featured musical performances from Jamie Cullum and Gary Barlow. Last year's Christmas episode looked back on the 25 best performances from the show's history.
