Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special 2023 winner revealed
The Christmas Glitterball Trophy has now been awarded.
It's the most wonderful time of the year and with Christmas also comes a festive edition of dance competition show, Strictly Come Dancing.
After a standout season this year, the BBC series returned to our screens for a Christmas special – and the winner has now been crowned.
Taking home the Glitterball Trophy for this year's Christmas episode is none other than Jamie Borthwick and Nancy Xu.
The Eastenders actor wowed the judges and audience alike with his Quick Step to Merry Christmas Everyone alongside professional dancer Xu, and rose to the top of the leaderboard with a perfect score of 40 points.
Borthwick, who is best known for portraying Jay Brown in EastEnders, took part in the Christmas episode along with other celebrity contestants that included Dan Snow, Sally Nugent, Tillie Amartey, Danny Cipriani and Keisha Buchanan.
Borthwick can now rest easy knowing that the coveted Glitterball Trophy is now his and speaking about his win, the actor said: "This is great, it’s been a wonderful experience, but we’re all winners here. This show is magic."
The slew of new contestants also took part in a confetti-laden group dance and the episode also saw a musical performance from former UK Eurovision entry Sam Ryder.
It wouldn't be an episode of Strictly without further inspiring dance routines so alongside Ryder's performance, Giovanni Pernice, Lauren Oakley, Kai Widdrington and Luba Mushtuk provided choreography to match his song.
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Borthwick has been on our screens as a mainstay of Eastenders, most recently dealing with the impact left by Lola's death in the soap.
And while Borthwick's Strictly win is a massive achievement in itself, it's not the only thing kicking off for the actor on the big day. The much-anticipated Eastenders Christmas episode may be majorly concerned with The Six storyline, but it seems as though Borthwick's Jay is in for his own unexpected kind of occasion.
EastEnders' executive producer, Chris Clenshaw, revealed previously: "The Mitchells gather for their first Christmas without Lola, and Jay receives an unexpected Christmas present. Over at No.45, Ian pulls out all the stops for Cindy’s first Christmas back in Walford but is put out when her ex-husband George is their unexpected guest."
Read more:
- Amy Dowden thanks Strictly in emotional post after return to dance floor
- Strictly Come Dancing 2023 announces winner
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Authors
Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.
