All hail Hamza: The biggest talking points from the Strictly Come Dancing 2022 final

The 2022 series of Strictly Come Dancing went out with an explosion of sequins, with finalists Hamza Yassin, Helen Skelton, Fleur East and Molly Rainford competing to win the Glitterball Trophy in the grand finale.

Each celebrity and their partner performed three dances for the judges, the studio audience and the viewers at home.

There was also a performance from Florence and the Machine, and a gloriously chaotic group dance.

In the end, Yassin pipped the other stars to the post, and became this year’s winner, after bringing back his legendary Couple’s Choice.

Read on for the key moments from the night…

Hamza Yassin was crowned the winner

Anton Du Beke summed it up pretty well during the final when he told the wildlife presenter: “I laugh out loud with joy when I watch you dance.” Yassin was the last man standing in this competition and he won viewers’ hearts with his big smile and those incredible lifts.

In the final, Yassin and his pro partner Jowita Przystal danced the Salsa to “Ecuador” by Sash! featuring Rodriguez and the Couple’s Choice to “Jerusalema – Remix” by Master KG featuring Burna Boy and Nomcebo Zikode, and his Show Dance was to “Let’s Face The Music And Dance” by Irving Berlin.

The Couple’s Choice, which the pair first performed in week eight, went down an absolute storm and earned Yassin and Przystal their first perfect 40 of the series.

When he won, Yassin said: “This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Fleur East got two perfect 40s

East was the first celebrity to get a perfect 40 on this series of Strictly, in Blackpool Week, for her a Couple’s Choice routine to a Destiny’s Child megamix, including the songs “Jumpin’, Jumpin’” and “Lose My Breath”.

In the final, the singer and her pro partner Vito Coppola secured two more – first for their Samba, and then again for their Couple’s Choice.

East topped the leaderboard and was certainly the best dancer of the series, with Craig Revel Horwood saying he was “furious” because he couldn’t find anything wrong with their Samba – a notoriously difficult dance.

Florence and the Machine performed

After everyone had performed their three dances, Welch sang a spine-tingling rendition of her 2022 single “My Love”. She embraced Strictly’s glitzy nature in a typically ethereal gold gown.

“I’ve sunk a bottle of red during this Strictly final and this Florence performance has tipped me over the edge – an absolute goddess!!!” tweeted one fan. Hear hear!

The crowd loved Helen Skelton and Molly Rainford

Presenter Skelton and actor Rainford got huge cheers from the audience in the ballroom.

Skelton’s Jive went down a treat and Shirley Ballas said she seemed “so comfortable in her skin”,m while there was a huge reaction in the room to her and Gorka Márquez’s Couple’s Choice, which closed the series. “That is a dance that should win a final,” said Horwood.

While the audience loved Rainford, her and Carlos Gu’s Show Dance was too “cutesy” for Horwood, who wanted something “fierce”, but her Jive to “Tightrope” by Janelle Monáe went down much better with the judges.

A gloriously chaotic group dance

All the contestants and their pro partners from the 2022 series got back together for a group dance to an Eighties mix featuring “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor. It was a total fever dream, as usual, and is all now a bit of a blur.

It was fab to see the old faves back in the ballroom, from Ellie Taylor to Tony Adams.

And fans really enjoyed the nod to Taylor and Johannes Radebe’s Tango to the Casualty theme tune. Iconic.