Strictly Come Dancing final: Harry Judd crowned winner

By
Andrea Magrath

Last updated at 2:06 PM on 18th December 2011

Just weeks after his bandmate Dougie Poynter was crowned King of the Jungle on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, Harry Judd has won Strictly Come Dancing 2011.

His ecstatic McFly bandmates stormed the dancefloor moments after hosts Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly announced their names.

Sir Bruce was left chasing the boy band off the floor as they interrupted the Glitterball ceremony in their rush to congratulate the 25-year-old drummer.

The ecstatic boys jumped on Judd,
leaving his partner Aliona to cheer by herself before they enveloped her
in their group celebration.

‘All
I can say is, from the bottom of heart thank you to everyone for voting
for Aliona and me,’ the thrilled 25-year-old said. ‘I’ve been on the
best show on TV and I’m just honoured.’

The
musician had earlier admitted that he wasn’t convinced that joining the
show was the best decision early on in the competition. ‘I was dreading it to be honest. I thought, what am I doing?’

‘I was so nervous when I first started and I didn’t think I’d be able to do it. But Aliona has gotten me through it.’

Shortly after Harry was crowned as the winner, ‘King of the jungle’ Dougie joked on Twitter: ‘I have a queen!!!!!! Thanks so much guys! This is ace!!!’

The McFly boys had previously promised to strip and post a nude picture to Twitter should Harry win, and Dougie promised fans tonight: ‘Naked picture as promised coming later, need to find a yard glass first.’

A few weeks ago, Danny Jones fulfilled his promise to pose naked if Dougie won I’m A Celebrity, and the whole band will apparently be joining him tonight for the new tradition.

Harry told BBC Radio Five Live the double victory for him and bandmate Dougie had made it an ‘amazing year’.

‘It’s a Mc-double,’ he said. ‘Dougie’s my man, Dougie’s done it. Dougie is the king, I’m sure he will say I am the queen.’

Thanking fans for all their support, he added: ‘What an amazing year, we never ever expected it. We are two happy lads.’

Going into the final results Harry and Aliona were leading by three points, with a combined score of 156.

Runner-up Chelsee Healey said: ‘I‘m
really proud of meself.’ In a Sally Field moment, the Waterloo Road
actress said: ‘To know people actually like me is really nice.’

Harry and Aliona had heated things up
during the second half of the live final with a romantic American
Smooth and a sexy Argentine tango, for which they received their second
perfect score of the evening.

‘Like
the nation, I’ve fallen in love with you too darling,’ said an
uncharacteristic Craig, shortly before Harry was announced as the
winner.

Both the finalists performed a new dance for their third performance of the evening following Jason Donovan’s departure.

Chelsee and Pasha also received a 39 for their equally romantic Rumba to Fools Rush In.

They then performed the quick step from week four that first saw them get noticed as serious contenders by the judges.

Despite
Craig telling them it was a ‘first class’ performance, he stopped short
of awarding them a ten, lowering their otherwise perfect score to 39.

Romance: The couple made hearts melt with their American Smoothfor their third performance

An hour earlier, Jason Donovan was the first finalist to be eliminated from the final tonight.

Despite
topping the leader board going in the results show, the Australian and
his partner Kristina Rihanoff were voted off by the public.

‘After my wife and children, this has been the best experience of my life,’ the gracious star said after hearing the news.

Donovan became emotional as he thanked partner Kristina, who he called a visionary.

An
hour earlier, the actor and singer looked like he could have turned his
fortunes around after muscling bookies favourite Harry Judd out of
first place in the judges’ scores.

But it wasn’t to be.

Jason also thanks his wife and children, who he said had been with him through ‘all the ups and downs in my life.’

Earlier in the show, Jason said: ‘It has been such a ride. My life has
had ups and downs and that’s what has happened to me in Strictly.
Because of the downs, you appreciate the highs so much more. I’ve thrown
myself into it.’

After
receiving the lowest judges’ score – 37 – of the evening for his first
performance, a tango to I Will Survive, he upped his game to get a
perfect score for the show dance.

The judges heaped praise on Jason and
Kristina after their second performance, with Bruno telling them: ‘It
was more than a show dance it was showbusiness extravaganza! You
could open on Broadway tomorrow and break box office records!’

‘Ferocious and full-on darling,’ said Craig. ‘I would get that woman a restraining order, amazing!’

Jason’s departure leaves Harry and Chelsee in the competition. Harry opened the show with a quickstep.

Before
his dance, Harry said: ‘I’ve been smiling all week. My Strictly
experience has been one of the most important experiences of my life- I
never thought I’d say that.

‘Strictly has been refreshing and I’ve absolutely loved it. I’m very grateful.’

‘It’s
like being a dad and watching your son play football for the first
time,’ said his bandmate Dougie. ‘You think, “Oh, that’s my boy!”‘

Aliona said: ‘I wasn’t sure about Harry, he came into the studio pigeon-toed, and I thought “Aw, bless.”‘

After the energetic quickstep, Len said: ‘You’ve come out all guns blazing. That was brilliant, well done.’

‘You came, you danced and you conquered Blackpool,’ said Bruno. ‘It was delivered with flash and dance. Loved it.’

Craig
added: ‘I only had one problem last time, that ghastly lazy left foot
of yours, but you seemed to have improved that, so I absolutely love
it.’

‘I will survive? YOU have survived, 14
weeks of blood seat and tears,’ said Len afterwards. ‘You have 20 years
on the other two and you have given everything with so much energy. 10

Bruno
enthused: ‘You excelled! Talk about a tango with split personalities.
At one point you were like Wolverine and then you were like a disco diva
from 1978.’

‘Your
bottom was sticking out a lot, but I have to say it’s a fantastic
number,’ said Craig. ‘It’s through determination and good old fashioned
hard work that you’ve got there.

The
judges awarded 38 to the couple – perfect scores from Alesha and Len
and nines each from Craig and Bruno, putting them behind Harry and
Aliona after the first dance.

Chelsee and Pasha Kovalev were the last of the three finalist couples to perform their first dance.

‘Dancing is me now,’ The Waterloo Road star said. ‘When I first started people didn’t know who I was. Strictly has brought out an elegant side of me. I’ll leave the competition a different person, I’ve grown up a lot. Not in size! I’ve learned to be more confident. I’ll treasure this forever.’

They performed their popular Shrek jive from week ten.

Len told them: ‘I’ve judged in this
room many times, and watching you, a girl who came here with no dancing
experience, do that jive so well gives me a much pleasure as judging
world champions. 10

‘For me that was my favourite jive of the whole series,’ said Alesha. 10

‘That was a premium grade jive of eye-popping vibrancy,’ shouted Bruno. ‘You were great!’ 

Craig enthused: ‘A complete and absolute bundle of joy to watch. It was about a thousand steps a minute. I loved it.’ 9

‘It’s already the best night of my life,’ said Chelsee afterwards.

They received an almost-perfect 39,
with just Craig deducting one point from their score, placing Harry in
first place after the first dances, followed by Chelsee, and Jason in
third place.

For the show dance section, Harry and Aliona performed a sexy, Fifties-inspired jive to Great Balls of Fire.

The boy band member’s famous chest was out on full display for the second dance, in an unbuttoned red shirt.

He jumped behind the drum set to show off his day-job skills at the end of the number.

‘You have talent written all over you,’ said Len. ‘You gave it all your all. Everyone was so impressed by that.’

Alesha: I loved the concept, it really suited you. The lifts were almost dangerous but they were fabulous.

‘Its great guns harry!’ said an over-excited Bruno. ‘Rock God!’

They didn’t do quite as well as their first dance, receiving 37, with only Alesha awarding a perfect ten.

Chelsee gave Beyoncé a run for her money in a tiny gold number for her show dance, to One Night Only.

Despite winning warm praise, the performance received the lowest score of the evening, just 36.

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Strictly Come Dancing final: Harry Judd crowned winner