Strictly Come Dancing: Four Celebs Set For Grand Finale

After weeks of intense competition, the Strictly Come Dancing finalists are set to take to the dance floor one last time.

In the show’s 20th anniversary year, four celebrities are vying to get their hands on the Glitter Ball trophy: Chris McCausland, JB Gill, Sarah Headland and Tasha Ghori.

Comedian McCausland, Strictly’s first blind contestant, has emerged as the bookmakers’ favorite to win after impressing both the audience and the judges.

The Grand Final will be broadcast on Saturday from 18:00 GMT on BBC One and iPlayer.

At the beginning of the series There were 15 couples. The other four are:

• Chris McCausland and Diane Buswell
• JB Gill and Amy Dowden
• Sarah Hedland and Vito Coppola
• Tasha Ghori and Aljaz Skorjanek

The finalists will each perform three routines in front of a live audience and be judged strictly before the public votes for a winner.

Other highlights of the show will include professional dancers joining singer Ray for a performance, and the entire cast of 2024 returning to the dance floor for one final routine.

Before the final, McCausland said the training had been “relentless”, but he also found he had “a lot more resilience and determination” than he knew.

“It’s been exhausting, and it’s the scariest thing I’ve ever done, but I think it’s definitely the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done,” he said.

“And that’s probably the thing that’s going to have the most lasting effect on me in terms of my outlook on the world and life, and really the opportunities that I have.”

The 47-year-old and professional partner Buswell will perform a routine including his Waltz to You Will Never Walk Alone by Jerry and the Pacemakers in the grand final.

The pair will also repeat their duet selection routine to John Lennon’s Instant Karma, which they performed for the first time last month.

during the dance, Which went viral on social media.the comedian put his hands over Buswell’s eyes as the room went dark. Moments later the lights came back to show him carrying Buswell on his shoulders as fireworks went off in the background.

The pair received a score of 33 out of a possible 40 from the judges, with Craig Revel Horwood describing the “strong blackout moment” as “absolutely brilliant”.

McCausland was registered blind after losing his sight to retinitis pigmentosa in his 20s and 30s.

She revealed her 11-year-old daughter was initially “nervous” when she started out hard, in case she fell and “embarrassed” herself.

But now, she is backing him to win, she added.

“She used to say every Saturday, ‘It doesn’t matter if you go out, Daddy because I think you’ve already won’,” she said.

“And then there was that when we got to the semifinals, he said, ‘Daddy, you know when I said it doesn’t matter? I changed my mind. I think you know it.’ can win the thing.’

Gill has made it to the final but his original dance partner, Amy Dowden Forced out of the series. After a foot injury last month.

The professional posted on Instagram in November that she was heartbroken that she could no longer carry on.

It was not long after the Caerphilly-born dancer completed chemotherapy.

Dowden later explained. That his injury was not related to previous health issues, he added that he needed to rest but was hopeful of a comeback.

Fellow pro Lauren Oakley replaced her, pairing up with the JLS singer.

The pair will perform routines including a show dance to a Motown medley and a Viennese waltz to Let’s Go Fly a Kite from Mary Poppins.

Gill said it was an “honour” to partner with Dowden, and was full of praise for his new dance partner.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” Gill said. “To make it here, to be here with Lauren, is amazing.”

As part of a hugely successful band, Gill came to the show with some previous dance experience.

And, despite changing partners, he has consistently scored high on the leaderboard and goes into the finals in the top slot.

But he said he was still challenged every week and learned new things.

“You have good weeks and you have bad weeks,” he said. “Yes, steps are one thing, but really it’s about feeling it and enjoying it.”

Professional dancer Vito Coppola won the competition last year alongside Coronation Street actress Elle Leitch.

He will try to repeat that feat with Miranda actress Hedland on Saturday night.

Hadland, 53, has won praise for her strong messages about women believing in themselves during the series.

In video footage before her routine last month, she said she had received numerous messages from women her age who had stopped dancing.

“Other people are not telling me what I can and can’t do. I am,” she said to the camera.

It created a huge backlash online.

“My favorite type of couple choice is a woman who talks about self-growth and discovery… and delivers the hottest fuzz numbers possible,” said one X user. said

“Sarah Hedland melts my heart, I love her so much,” wrote another.

On Saturday, the pair will perform routines including Cha Cha to Like a Prayer by Madonna, and American Smooth to Proud by Heather Small.

Speaking ahead of the final, Hedland said she went into the competition thinking she was a “very confident person” and someone who knew what she was capable of.

But over the course of the series, she realizes that she has limits on herself.

“Now I realize it, you don’t know it’s happened to you, and then you say, ‘Oh, how much am I doing this in other parts of my life?'” she said.

“You should never get to a point in your life, for any reason, that you say, ‘This is me, this is my limit.’ “

Former Love Island star Ghori, 26, and dance partner Aljaž Škorjanec, will also enter the final in a strong position.

The pair were the first to score a 10 in the series and a perfect 40, with their beautiful American Smooth to Someone You Love by Lewis Capaldi.

During Saturday’s finale, they’ll repeat that routine, as well as dance a new show to Benny Goodman’s song, song, song.

Ghori is Strictly’s second deaf contestant.Three years after Rose Elling Ellis won the competition.

Speaking ahead of the final, Ghori said her time on Strictly was “an absolute dream, especially flashing my cochlear implant”.

She said the show’s costume team was adding a diamond to the implant every week, so it would match her costumes.

“The amount of messages I’ve gotten — especially from young women, young children, teenagers — who have said, ‘I feel represented because I’ve seen you on TV, I’ve even started decorating myself. The’, and that’s their strength, it’s very important to have it,” he said.

Model, writer and podcaster from North Yorkshire Clearly emotional On the show last month, she opened up about the backlash she’s received online because of her disability.

But reflecting on his experience of being strictly, Ghori described it as “magical” and “crazy”.

“I feel like it’s been a special year to be a part of and represent and I feel very excited about it.”