Clock this... Joe’s champ
BOOKIES’ favourite Joe McFadden won Strictly Come Dancing 2017 last night.
The 42-year-old Holby City star, who quit the TV hospital drama last week, triumphed over judges’ top scorer Alexandra Burke.
He also finished ahead of Debbie McGee and Gemma Atkinson – and he looked stunned and open-mouthed at the result.
Joe, partnered by Katya Jones, said: “It is completely surreal. Oh my goodness thank you so much.”
And looking at Katya, he added: “This woman is the most amazing woman.” He added with a grin: “Counsellor, artist and slave driver.”
The judges scores had put Alexandra top after three dances on 119 followed by Joe just one point behind on 118, then Debbie on 117 with Gemma in fourth position on 114.
But for the first time in the show’s history the winner was decided purely on the viewers’ votes.
The four finalists each did three dances. They chose their own favourite to perform for the last time in the series before the viewers chose their champion.
X Factor winner Alexandra did a spectacular jive to Proud Mary by Tina Turner and brought the house down, scoring her third perfect 40 out of 40 in the series and leaving her in tears from the judges’ glowing comments.
Next up was Debbie, who opted for the Argentine tango because she said it “felt electric”. She also scored a perfect 40 out of 40.
Confidence
Referring to her late husband Paul Daniels, she said: “After Paul died I lost a lot of confidence. What Strictly and Giovanni has given me is my confidence back and shown me I can be on my own and I am going to be OK.”
Gemma chose her American smooth to Petula Clark’s Down Town, scoring her 39 while Joe opted for the Charleston and was awarded 40 out of 40.
But the judges had no say when it came to the final success of the contestants, with only viewer votes affecting where the celebrities ultimately ranked.
During the tense wait for the result Ed Sheeran performed his latest single as he attempts to clinch the Christmas number one spot.
The first dance of the night for each of the four finalists was the judges’ pick, a repeat of one of the couple’s memorable performances at the judges discretion.
Alexandra kicked off the night with the American smooth to Wouldn’t It Be Lovely from My Fair Lady chosen by the judges which scored her four perfect tens.
Shirley Ballas told her she was exquisite while Bruno Tonioli said she was lovelier than ever.
Craig Revel Horwood gave her an early scare when he said “I thought it was absolutely dreadful” to gasps from the audience before quickly adding “because I could not find anything wrong with it”.
Debbie and Giovanni Pernice danced a salsa to Can’t Take My Eyes Off You by Boys Town Gang for their first dance and scored 39 out of 40.