Strictly Come Dancing: Coronation Street Star Ellie Leach crowned winner of 2023 final
Coronation Street star Ellie Leach has been crowned the winner of Strictly Come Dancing 2023.
She beat out EastEnders’ Bobby Brazier and Bad Education star Layton Williams to lift the glitterball trophy at the end of Saturday’s live final.
This year’s trio is the youngest line-up of finalists ever.
The 22-year-old actress was awarded 40 points for her final dance of the night, while Anton Du Beke became emotional as he told Ellie Leach he was “proud” of her. She was praised for taking a “risk” with a lift during her second dance alongside professional dance partner Vito Coppola.
Fellow competitor Layton Williams had danced his way through multiple glass ceilings during his time on the show and he and Nikita Kuzmin became the first same-sex couple to reach the final.
The show has featured several same-sex pairings in the past three seasons -Katya Jones and Nicola Adams in 2020, semi-finalists Johannes Redabe and John Whaite in 2021, and Jayde Adams and Karen Haur in 2022 – but this is the first time such a pairing has reached the final.
But it has not been an easy journey for Williams, 29, as he has been accused of having an advantage over competitors due to his musical theatre experience.
He made his West End debut at age 12, playing Billy Elliot, before starring in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.
Responding to one fan, who called others out for bullying him, Leyton replied: “Luckily I have thick skin but it’s so draining that so called “Strictly fans” go out of their way to drag me down to lift others up. Their fave couples would be SO embarrassed by their comments & so should they.”
An emotional opening
It was an emotional show as Amy Dowden performed the opening number.
The dancer was unable to have a celebrity partner this year on the BBC One show following her diagnosis and subsequent treatment for stage three breast cancer.
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