Katie Derham wins Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special

Katie Derham has been crowned champion of the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2017. 

The TV presenter, 47, scooped up the famous Strictly Silver Star trophy with professional dance partner Brendan Cole after they wowed judges with their stunning Viennese Waltz to ‘White Christmas’ by Otis Redding on Monday. 

The sensational festive spectacular also saw six of Strictly’s most memorable contestants return to the ballroom: Judy Murray, Kimberley Walsh, Colin Jackson , Robbie Savage and Jeremy Vine.

Katie Derham has been crowned champion of the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2017 with professional dancer partner Brendan Cole

After reigning supreme with her dazzling routine, a shocked Katie told hosts Tess Daley and Claudia Winkleman: ‘Oh my goodness, I’m so stunned! I thought any of these gorgeous people were going to win, not us. 

Katie initially appeared on Strictly two years ago but missed out on the coveted Glitterball trophy.  

‘This is brilliant. It feels fantastic, it really does!’ she continued after racking up the highest scores from judges – Craig Revel Horwood, Darcey Bussell and Bruno Tonioli and Shirley Ballas.

Ballas said the routine, which saw the couple start in a giant snow globe, was ‘absolutely beautiful, everything was fabulous for me, I loved it’. 

The TV presenter scooped up the famous Strictly Silver Star trophy with Brendan after they wowed judges with their Viennese Waltz to ‘White Christmas’ by Otis Redding

The TV presenter scooped up the famous Strictly Silver Star trophy with Brendan after they wowed judges with their Viennese Waltz to ‘White Christmas’ by Otis Redding

Celebrating the magic of Christmas, the show opened with a truly incredible group performance featuring the Trinity Boys Choir and the Christmas cast of 2017.

All six of the couple then took to the dance floor for their performance, which saw them tell the story of what they love most about Christmas.    

Welsh footie star Robbie Savage and his partner Dianne Buswell performed an American Smooth to Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)’ by Michael Bublé and scored 31.   

The sports star notoriously broke his nose while doing a knee slide as part of a jive during his previous stint on the show.

 

Talking ahead of his Christmas performance, he joked: ‘This time I’ve got a new partner, Dianne, no more knee slides. I’m savage by name, but smooth by nature this Christmas’. 

Tennis coach Judy Murray and Neil Jones executed a stunning Charleston to Let’s Misbehave by Trevor Ashley and also nabbed a score of 31.

Athlete Colin Jackson was next to take the stage with Amy Dowden and the duo took on a Rumba to Run by Leona Lewis – giving them a score of 36.

Broadcaster and journalist Jeremy Vine and Karen Clifton opted for a Quickstep to All I Want For Christmas Is You by The Puppini Sisters and scored 31.     

 

Their efforts earned them a low score of two points from Revel Horwood, who then switched it to a higher score of seven after being chastised by fellow judge Bussell.

Before dishing out his scores, Revel Horwood said: ‘All I want for Christmas is to never see that dance again’.

Kimberley Walsh and Pasha Kovalev were ones to beat as they took on the Jive to Run Run Rudolph by Kelly Clarkson, nabbing them a score 39.

However, Katie and Brendan’s performance proved to be the most popular after the audience vote and the judges score was combined and they were champion.  

The Christmas Day special also saw a special musical performance from the Kaiser Chiefs fit before all the couples and judges took to the dancefloor once again at the end of the show.  

  

 



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