BBC Strictly Come Dancing suffers blow as finale viewing figures drop
Ellie and Vito win Strictly Come Dancing 2023
After 13 weeks of impressive routines, glittering ballgowns and tear-jerking performances, Strictly Come Dancing came to a close on Saturday night. Finalists Ellie Leach, Layton Williams and Bobby Brazer all took to the dancefloor one last time to fight for the championship.
Millions tuned in to see who would be crowned the series winner, although viewing ratings have dropped since last year. According to overnight ratings, Saturday’s finale was watched by an average of 8.8 million viewers.
Last year, when Hamza Yassin took the title, 9.2 million people tuned in to see who won the show. Although the peak viewings were the same for 2022 and 2023 at 9.7 million views.
During the finale, fans were treated to three routines by the finalists, a group dance with the cast of the series, and a special performance from Cher. However, it was Ellie Leach who claimed the title, making her Strictly’s youngest winner at 22 years old.
Speechless to have won, she told presenter Tess Daley: “Words cannot describe how I am feeling right now. I cannot believe we have just won Strictly Come Dancing 2023.
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“It’s been a life-changing opportunity and I’ve had the time of my life dancing with Vito every week.
“It has been so special and to be able to do it with such a great teacher has made it an experience I will never forget.”
Ellie has been the bookie’s favourite to win the show for a few weeks now as Ladbrokes had her odds of winning 1/12.
According to poll figures on the Strictly Spoiler Twitter account, the former Coronation Street star stormed ahead of Layton Williams and Bobby Brazier.
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With polls open after each routine, Ellie came out on top as the viewer’s favourite each time.
However, it looks as though some people aren’t impressed with the figures as some fans stated Layton Williams deserved more recognition.
Commenting on the poll, @Charlie1055 said: “Why doesn’t the best dancer win? Layton was the best dancer.”
@camy93_ added: “That is absolutely ridiculous. Layton blew them all out of the water tonight.”
@crazydancercat commented: “Surprised Layton in 3rd in the poll. For me, it was between Ellie and Layton.”
Although @Jenny_shaw88 praised the decision by adding: “I’m so glad Ellie won! She’s a fantastic dancer and so lovely!.”
Express.co.uk has gone to BBC for a comment
Strictly Come Dancing is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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