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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Carla Feric

Winner of Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special revealed

Presenting duo Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman have hosted the show together for the last time (Guy Levy/BBC) -

TV star Scarlett Moffatt has been crowned the winner of the 2025 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special.

The 35-year-old lifted the Silver Star trophy alongside Strictly professional dancer Vito Coppola, after a vote by the BBC One celebrity dance show’s audience and judges.

The pre-recorded episode also marked the last hosting appearance from Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, with Daly, 56, taking to the dancefloor with professional dancer Aljaz Skorjanec to perform an Argentine tango.

TV star Scarlett Moffatt and professional dancer Vito Coppola have been crowned the winners of the 2025 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special (Guy Levy/BBC)

Meanwhile, Winkleman, 53, took part in a parody of Love Actually with the musical director of the Strictly band, Dave Arch.

Arch, 63, held large placards which read “say it’s carol singers” and “to me, you are perfect”, referencing a scene from the 2003 Christmas rom-com, during which Andrew Lincoln’s character Mark confesses his love to Juliet, played by Keira Knightley, in this way.

Moffatt and dancer Coppola were crowned champions after wowing judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke with their cha cha to DJ Play A Christmas Song by Cher.

Scarlett Moffatt and Vito Coppola wowed the judges with their cha cha to DJ Play A Christmas Song by Cher (Guy Levy/BBC)

They topped the leaderboard after the judges awarded them a perfect score of 40.

Moffatt said: “This is amazing. I feel like I should have prepared a speech.

“This is honestly the greatest gift that could have ever happened at Christmas.

“We’ve all just had the best time.”

She beat fellow celebrities All Saints singer Melanie Blatt, EastEnders star Nicholas Bailey, actor and podcaster Babatunde Aleshe, Westlife singer Brian McFadden and Gladiator Jodie Ounsley, also known to fans as Fury, during the Christmas Day episode.

Moffatt rose to fame after appearing on Channel 4’s reality TV series Gogglebox, having gained a large social media following due to her outgoing personality.

She also won I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2016, and had a brief stint co-presenting Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway in 2017.

TX DATE:25-12-2025,TX WEEK:51,EMBARGOED UNTIL:25-12-2025 18:45,DESCRIPTION:*NOT FOR PUBLICATION UNTIL 18:45, THURSDAY 25TH DECEMBER, 2025*,COPYRIGHT:BBC Public Service,CREDIT LINE:BBC/Guy Levy

The Strictly Christmas special, which is pre-recorded, kicked off with a group routine to Kelly Clarkson’s Grown Up Christmas List and We Need A Little Christmas from the musical Mame, featuring the celebrities and their professional partners.

Then the couples took to the ballroom floor to perform their individual seasonal routines.

Bailey, 54, and his partner Luba Mushtuk scored 39 points – the joint second-highest score of the night – for their Viennese waltz to It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year by Andy Williams.

Singer McFadden and professional dancer Michelle Tsiakkas also scored 39 points for their jive to Run Run Rudolph by Kelly Clarkson.

Blatt, 50, and her partner Kai Widdrington received 36 points after performing their American smooth routine to Santa Baby by The Pussycat Dolls.

Ounsley and her professional dancer Neil Jones scored a total of 37 for their street commercial to Red Christmas by Kylie Cantrall.

Aleshe and dancer Nancy Xu were left with the lowest score of 35 points, after their Charleston to Santa Claus Is Coming To Town by Bing Crosby.

The Christmas special marks the last hosting appearance from Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman (Guy Levy/BBC)

To close the show, the couples and judges danced to Happy Holiday/Let Yourself Go.

Presenting duo Daly and Winkleman closed the show with their final “keep dancing” from the ballroom floor.

Strictly Come Dancing’s Christmas special is available on BBC iPlayer.

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