What time is the Strictly Come Dancing final this Saturday and who are the finalists?
AFTER months of intense training and competition, it all comes down to the Strictly Come Dancing final this weekend.
Three couples remain and they will battle it out to become new champions of the ballroom.
What time is the Strictly Come Dancing final this Saturday?
The Strictly final will be taking place on Saturday 14 December at 7.05pm on BBC One.
The couples will each be performing three dances in a bid to impress the judges one last time.
First, the judges will pick a dance from earlier in the series for each couple to perform again.
The second dance will be at the discretion of the couples, who will perform their showcase in a style of their choosing and with no rules.
For the third and final dance, each couple will dance to their favourite routine from the series.
Who are the finalists?
Emma Barton and Anton Du Beke
Emma and Anton escaped the dance-off last week and progressed to the grand final, with a combined semi-final score of 67.
After scoring in the 20s several times this series, the former EastEnders star and her partner Anton who has been on the show since its inception, have steadily improved and received their highest score of the series of 39 in week 11.
The 42-year-old is the only female celebrity remaining in the series and would love nothing more than to claim the crown.
Karim Zeroual and Amy Dowden
Karim has been one of the standout performers in this series.
Coming into the series with a smaller following than most of the other participants, his energy and enthusiasm have wowed both the judges and UK crowd, and their votes have seen the 25-year-old earn a spot in the final.
He has appeared in the dance-off twice but has performed well enough to get the judges’ vote.
Karim along with his partner Amy will be hoping they have what it takes to lift the glitterball trophy.
Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse
Kelvin has excelled on this series of Strictly Come Dancing considering he wasn’t initially part of the show.
The former Emmerdale star replaced Jamie Laing after the comedian injured his foot prior to the beginning of the series.
The 35-year-old’s chemistry with Oti has been nothing short of remarkable and they have both turned in some incredible performances.
The couple have the highest total score in last week’s semi-final with 77 and the duo will look to go one better in the final.
Who is the favourite to win Strictly?
With all three couples in with a very good chance of winning, at this point Kelvin looks set to ride that momentum he has carried from the beginning of the series all the way to the end by becoming the new champion of Strictly Come Dancing.
Fans have loved his partnership with Oti and they never been in the bottom two.
They will face stiff competition from Karim and Amy who have outscored their opponents more times in the last 12 weeks.
Emma appears to be the least likely to win the title, but anything can happen in a final and she is more than capable of delivering first-class performances.
What is the Strictly Come Dancing 2019 prize?
The ultimate prize is, of course, the glitterball trophy and the satisfaction of earning enough votes to beat 14 other couples.
However, the other couples also get a reward.
Celebrities that sign up to take part in the show get £25,000 and if they survive until October, it goes up to £40,000.
The celebs who make it to the quarter-finals will pocket £60,000 and the finalists take home a total fee of £75,000.
Like 2018 winner Stacey Dooley and Joe McFadden the year before, this year’s winning couple are reported to earn a whopping £100,000 fee for their efforts on the show.
Who won Strictly Come Dancing last year?
Journalist Stacey Dooley clinched the title last year after defeating runners-up Ashley Roberts and Pasha Kovalev, Faye Tozer and Giovanni Pernice and Joe Sugg and Dianne Buswell.
Despite receiving the lowest combined score in the final, the public were in awe of the 32-year-old’s flamboyance and crowned her the winner.
Her partner Kevin Clifton wasn’t so fortunate this year, as he was eliminated in just the second week with his partner Anneka Rice.