Alexandra Mardell and Kai Widdrington have won this year’s Strictly Christmas special (Picture: BBC)
Coronation Street actress Alexandra Mardell has been crowned the winner of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special alongside her professional partner Kai Widdrington.
The Emma Brooker star wowed judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke, and Head Judge Shirley Ballas, as well as the studio audience with their Quickstep to Sleigh Ride by The Ronettes before lifting the glistening Strictly Silver Star trophy.
This year’s festive edition saw six celebrities – Larry Lamb and Nadiya Bychkova, Rosie Ramsey and Neil Jones, George Webster and Amy Dowden, Ricky Haywood-Williams and Luba Mushtuk, and Nicola Roberts and Giovanni Pernice – take to the floor to celebrate the magic of Christmas.
The special episode started with a sensational group routine to a festive medley of Let It Snow, The Nutcracker Suite, and Santa Claus is Coming to Town, featuring the celebrities and their professional partners. Each couple then took to the dance floor to perform their individual seasonal routines.
Once all couples had danced, the studio audience voted for their favourite and their votes were combined with the judges’ scores to decide the winner.
The pair impressed the judges with their Quickstep to Sleigh Ride (Picture: BBC)
Presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman announced Alexandra and Kai as the Christmas champions before presenting them with the sought-after Strictly Silver Star trophy.
‘I am so shocked, I cannot thank you enough,’ Alexandra exclaimed. ‘I’m so happy about that, I did that for you [Kai] as well, I can’t believe it.’
The final sprinkling of glitter was a special musical performance from the one and only, former Strictly Come Dancing judge, Bruno Tonioli.
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He sang his version of Don’t Leave Me This Way by The Communards, accompanied by professional dancers Dianne Buswell, Cameron Lombard, Nikita Kuzmin, Michelle Tsiakkas, Karen Hauer and Lauren Oakley.
To close the show in true Strictly style, the couples and judges all graced the ballroom once more for a Christmas cracker of a performance to All You Need is Love by The Beatles.
Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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The Emma Brooker star impressed the judges.
