Advertisement

Strictly Come Dancing draws HUGE final ratings figures

Photo credit: Guy Levy / BBC
Photo credit: Guy Levy / BBC

From Digital Spy

Strictly Come Dancing's grand final last night (December 16) enjoyed huge ratings success as 13.1 million people tuned in to see Joe McFadden crowned the winner.

But, if you ask Sunday Brunch host and former Strictly contestant Simon Rimmer, that was all down to his return, naturally.

Simon became the fifth celebrity to leave the BBC competition back in October when he and partner Karen Clifton were eliminated during the Halloween special, but in true Strictly tradition he returned for a final performance with all of this year's contestants in last night's show.

Showing a clip of the dance on this morning's Sunday Brunch, Simon relived his part and his best bits, including his final dance (an American Smooth to Tom Jones' 'Delilah') and the infamous chicken-gate that went with it.

"Basically, the week I got knocked out we ended up eating chicken, but we couldn't eat the chicken because it was so dry," he explained to guest Barns Courtney, who was pretty confused by the clip. "It was a gag... the whole thing was about a little gag."

The series was ultimately won by Holby City star Joe McFadden and his partner Katya Jones, and Simon and co-host Tim Lovejoy acknowledged their win with a clip of their dance, before acknowledging the show's huge ratings success.

Photo credit: Guy Levy / BBC
Photo credit: Guy Levy / BBC

"I hear it was the biggest ever ratings for a final, last night," Tim said.

"Yeah, it was because I was back, Tim," Simon joked back. "Never mind the dancing stuff."

Back and eating chicken – just what the British public loves to see on a Saturday night.

As for the actual ratings, the BBC Strictly account confirmed this morning (December 17) that the show's final had a huge peak audience of 13.1 million, with an average of 11.6 million throughout the episode.

"An amazing peak of 13.1m watched the #Strictly Final to see Joe and Katya lift the Glitter Ball trophy!" they wrote. "Average 11.6m & huge 55.9% share."