Strictly Come Dancing LIVE: Thomas Skinner snubs final after brutal comment

BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing is set to crown its 2025 champions in tonight's final, with Amber Davies, George Clarke and Karen Carney performing one last time

After 13 weeks of fake tans, sequin-heavy outfits and painful blisters, the Strictly Come Dancing finalists are performing for the glitterball trophy. Tonight's final will see ex Love Islander Amber Davies, TikTok star George Clarke and former footballer Karen Carney take to the ballroom floor in a bid to be Strictly's 2025 champion.

The three remaining stars will take on three dances in this evening's live show before the public vote for their winner. However, it's not just the final episode for our 2025 cast - tonight also marks the last live show for hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.

Read on for all the latest updates as the Strictly Come Dancing final kicks off.

18:53Lauren Morris

Karen Carney ‘begged’ BBC bosses to make big change to rules amid warning

Karen Carney revealed last month that she begged the Strictly bosses to let her wear flats for one dance after struggling in heels.

Speaking on the Gold Minds podcast, she revealed: “They were like, 'if you wear your black shoes, which would look horrendous, you will get marked down,’ and I was thinking, 'yeah, but if I felt more comfortable and I dance better, would the marking actually balance itself out?'

"And they were like, 'you cannot, it’s, like, the rules, you’ve got to wear them'. And I was like [sighs] and then [the shoes] came, and I was like, ugh!"

You can read more about the story here.

18:52KEY EVENT

Thomas Skinner confirms Strictly final snub in lengthy statement

Controversial contestant Thomas Skinner confirmed that he would not be appearing in the Strictly final earlier today, posting a lengthy statement to X. It came after reports that the ex Apprentice star planned on ‘suing the BBC for rigging voting’.

In the statement, he claimed to have received an anonymous email from someone at the BBC saying that he had received “far more votes than it appeared”. He also went on to claim that other stars received a welcome gift but his was “stolen”.

"I also want to say this carefully. After receiving this information and having it verified, a very senior BBC figure has since resigned. I’m not saying that had anything to do with me, but it did feel bizarre. Also the main hosts stepped down the following week. Again, I’m not saying it has anything to do with me. It’s just all very coincidental. I’m just being honest."

You can read the story in full here.

18:50Lauren Morris

Who are the favourites to replace Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman?

With Tess and Claudia presenting their last live show tonight, fans can’t help but speculate over which stars will be replacing them next year - and there are a few huge names in the mix.

Former Strictly star and It Takes Two host Zoe Ball is tipped to be taking over, with odds of 1/2 , while Fleur East, Rylan Clark and Hannah Waddingham are also rumoured to be in the running. You can read more about the odds here.