Joe McFadden has been crowned the winner of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.
The ‘Holby City’ actor and his professional partner Katya Jones managed to take home the coveted glitterball trophy during Saturday (16.12.17) night’s live final, after beating off stiff competition from the likes of Debbie McGee, Alexandra Burke, and Gemma Atkinson.
And Joe couldn’t quite believe his luck when his name was called, as he never thought he would make it to the final, let alone be crowned the winner of the BBC Latin and ballroom dance competition.
When asked by the show’s hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman if he ever thought he’d win the show, Joe said: "Not in a million years. It’s completely surreal, and I’m so in awe of everyone who started all those weeks ago. We’ve all become such a tight unit and I love them all to bits. Every one of us here are winners because we’ve gotten here. I love every single one of them to bits."
The 42-year-old actor had nothing but kind words for his dance partner either, whom he dubbed as "utterly amazing", and thanked her for her work training him every week.
Speaking about Katya, he said: "This woman is the most amazing woman. Thank you so much for sticking with me and persevering with me and being the most amazing artist, and dancer, and counsellor, and slave driver. She’s amazing. Utterly, utterly amazing."
And Katya, 28, couldn’t quite find the words to describe her emotions after finding herself in her first ever final on the show.
When asked how she felt to have steered Joe to victory, she simply said: "I’m sorry it’s just … we did it!"
Whilst the judges – Shirley Ballas, Darcey Bussell, Craig Revel-Horwood, and Bruno Tonioli – still scored each of the couples’ three dances, the overall winner was decided on the public vote alone, as the judges’ scores were merely used as a guide.
Joe had scored 39 for both his Viennese Waltz and his showdance, and a perfect 40 for his Charleston, placing him second on the leaderboard based on judges’ scores, behind Alexandra Burke.
Joe McFadden wins Strictly Come Dancing
