Actor Jamie Borthwick has been announced as the winner of the 2023 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special.
The EastEnders star lifted the Silver Star trophy alongside his professional dance partner Nancy Xu after a vote by the BBC One celebrity dance show’s audience and judges.
Borthwick, 29, said: “This is great, it’s been a wonderful experience, but we’re all winners here. This show is magic.”
He beat BBC Breakfast presenter Sally Nugent, historian Dan Snow, rugby union player Danny Cipriani, The Teacher star Tillie Amartey and Sugababes singer Keisha Buchanan during Monday’s Christmas Day episode.
Borthwick performed a quickstep to Shakin’ Stevens hit Merry Christmas Everyone, which received 40 points from the four judges.
Head judge Shirley Ballas said: “If I could jump over this bar and quickstep around the room I would do it with you. I don’t have a paddle high enough for you.”
Motsi Mabuse said: “The surprise of the evening and a perfect end.”
Anton Du Beke called Borthwick’s performance “magnificent” while Craig Revel Horwood hailed him as “fabulous”.
Borthwick has starred as Jay Brown in BBC soap opera EastEnders for more than 17 years, picking up a number of awards for his performance.
His most recent win was the best actor gong at the Inside Soap Awards in September for playing Jay as he deals with the death of his wife Lola Pearce-Brown (Danielle Harold) after a brain tumour diagnosis.
The Strictly Christmas special, which is pre-recorded, kicked off with a group routine to a festive medley of It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, featuring the celebrities and their professional partners.
Then the couples took to the ballroom floor to perform their individual seasonal routines.
Amartey and her partner Neil Jones received the second highest score from the judges of 39 points for their jive routine to Kelly Clarkson’s Underneath The Tree.
Nugent, 52, and professional dancer Graziano Di Prima’s foxtrot to Ella Fitzgerald’s version of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas left them with a total of 38 points
A jive routine to Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You by Snow, 45, and Nadiya Bychkova disappointed the judges and left them with the lowest score, 30 points.
Buchanan and dancer Gorka Marquez earned 33 points for a Viennese waltz to Snowman by Sia while professional Jowita Przystal and Cipriani’s cha-cha-cha to Celebration scored 37 points.
Elsewhere, Eurovision star Sam Ryder performed his hit single You’re Christmas To Me, accompanied by professional dancers Giovanni Pernice, Lauren Oakley, Kai Widdrington and Luba Mushtuk.
To close the show, the couples and judges danced to What Christmas Means To Me.
Presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman hosted the show.
Strictly Come Dancing’s Christmas special is available on BBC iPlayer.
