Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton win Strictly Come Dancing 2018
- Published
Documentary maker Stacey Dooley and dance partner Kevin Clifton have been crowned the winners of the 16th series of BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing.
Stacey beat Joe Sugg, Faye Tozer and Ashley Roberts to win the coveted glitterball trophy in Saturday's final.
She was previously best known for hosting her hard-hitting series Stacey Dooley Investigates, but has won over millions on Saturday night TV.
It was Kevin's first victory after being a losing finalist four times.
Kevin was clearly emotional to finally get his hands on the glitterball. After winning, Stacey paid tribute to him as "the biggest gem".
She said: "I've had the most incredible time. It's daunting doing something you haven't done before - you feel silly, you feel like a bit of an idiot.
"But Kevin walks you through - and you so deserve this."
In response, he told her: "Thank you so much not just for being so amazing and dancing so well and getting this, but just for being the most wonderful person to work with, to spend every day in training [with].
"You've worked so hard and always with a massive smile on your face."
Stacey and Kevin were popular winners, and there was also huge support for Joe from fellow YouTubers and some of the eight million people who subscribe to his YouTube channel.
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The couples in the final performed a dance of the judge's choice, a show dance and their favourite dance of the series.
The judges chose the foxtrot for Stacey and Kevin's first dance. The pair then performed the show dance to Land of a Thousand Dances by Jessica Mauboy, and their choice was the Paso Doble - or "Paso Dooley".
Although judges Craig Revel-Horwood, Dame Darcey Bussell, Shirley Ballas and Bruno Tonioli gave their scores as usual, the winners were decided purely by a public vote.
Stacey and Kevin would have actually come fourth out of the four final pairs if it had just been down to the judges, who awarded them a score of 114 out of a possible total of 120.
Two couples - Pussycat Dolls star Ashley and partner Pasha Kovalev, and Steps singer Faye and Giovanni Pernice - were given top marks for all three dances in the final, getting 120 out of 120.
But some viewers were less impressed by their achievements because Ashley and Faye had previously had dance training and experience, whereas Stacey and Joe were relative novices when they started.
This year's series was as eventful as ever - off the dancefloor as well as on it.
It hit the headlines when comedian Seann Walsh was caught kissing his married dance partner Katya Jones outside a pub.
There were also reports of a row between actor Danny John-Jules and his dance partner Amy Dowden during training.
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