Strictly Come Dancing 2023: Winner of glitterball trophy announced

Actress Ellie Leach has been crowned this year's Strictly Come Dancing champion on BBC One.

The former Coronation Street actress beat EastEnders' Bobby Brazier and Bad Education star Layton Williams to lift the glitterball trophy in Saturday's live final.

This year's line-up were the show's youngest trio of finalists ever.

Ellie, 22, who was the bookmakers' favourite to win, performed three dances with partner Vito Coppola.

As usual, one of the dances in the grand finale was chosen by the judges, one was their own favourite dance from the series, and the other was a show dance.

The judges gave advisory scores but the public made the final decision.

After Ellie and Vito danced a routine set to Ain't That A Kick In The Head by Robbie Williams, they were awarded 40 points.

They also performed their paso doble routine again while their show dance was a Jennifer Lopez megamix.

Praising their dance, head judge Shirley Ballas told Ellie: "You, my dear, are the only lady standing and let me tell you, you came down those stairs, you worked that dress, the whole ensemble... was spot on."

They faced stiff competition from the other remaining couples - Layton and Nikita Kuzmin, and Bobby and Dianne Buswell - who also took to the dancefloor for one last time.

Layton and Nikita topped the leaderboard, scoring 119, followed by Bobby and Dianne with 117 and Ellie and Vito at 115.

But after twelve weeks of tangos, salsas and foxtrots, this was Ellie and Vito's night.

Other highlights of Saturday's show included a performance by megastar Cher.

The Strictly professionals performed the opening dance number, dressed in black and white, with Amy Dowden also involved.

Dowden, 33, was not able to have a star partner this year due to her diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer.

The entire line-up of 2023 also came back for one more routine.