Dance final watched by 12.7m viewers

Strictly Come Dancing attracted a peak of 12.7 million viewers for Saturday night’s final as Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton were crowned dancefloor champions.

The conclusion to the hit series saw a drop on last year’s figures, when Joe Mcfadden lifted the glitterball trophy in front of a peak audience of 13.1 million.

Saturday night’s instalment was seen by an average of 11.7 million, slightly up on the 11.6 million watching the end of the celebrity dance competition in 2017.

The audience share was 54.4%, slightly down on last year’s figure of 55.9%.

Overnight ratings made the finale the most watched episode of this year’s series. The secondlargest average audience, 10.6 million, came after comedian Seann Walsh and his married dance partner Katya Jones became embroiled in a kissing scandal.

The 2010 series of Strictly, won by actress Kara Tointon with Artem Chigvintsev, remains the most-watched final with a total audience of 14.3 million.

The show has enjoyed a bumper ratings lead over The X Factor all series, regularly pulling in almost three times more viewers than its ITV rival, which averaged 3.7 million viewers and peaked with 4.5 million at its halfway point.

Dooley’s win saw her professional partner Kevin Clifton lift the BBC One show’s glitterball trophy for the first time after coming runner-up in four previous finals.