Love Actually has come out on top in a RadioTimes.com poll to crown the best romcom of all time.

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After 32 films spanning several decades were narrowed down to four in a tournament on X (formerly Twitter), the Christmas classic beat out Roman Holiday, Grease, and fellow Richard Curtis film Four Weddings and A Funeral to take the crown.

It scored 38.5 per cent of the vote in the final, with Four Weddings its closest challenger on 28.6 per cent.

In total, more than 1000 votes were cast throughout the competition, with other films featured in the shortlist including the likes of The Philadelphia Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Dirty Dancing, and Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Initially, fans were asked to choose their favourite romcom from each decade between the 1940s and 2010s, before the respective winners faced off in the semi-finals and final.

Love Actually has often sharply divided opinion among both film fans and critics, so is perhaps a controversial choice as winner, but it has remained a staple of Christmas viewing in the two decades since its release.

Last year marked 20 years since it first opened in cinemas and, speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com at the time, Curtis explained that he considered the film's enduring success to be "just a strange bit of luck".

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"I don't watch Love Actually very often," he said. "And when you do watch your old movies, it's funny how they're like just a very expensive diary.

"So I'd watch it and think 'Oh my god, we ran out of time that day, and Emma Thompson ticked me off for the fact she didn't know the names of her own children', and stuff like that."

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Authors

Patrick Cremona, RadioTimes.com's senior film writer looking at the camera and smiling
Patrick CremonaSenior Film Writer

Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.

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