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By AMELIA WYNNE FOR MAILONLINE
Published: | Updated:
Strictly Come Dancing winner Dianne Buswell shared a sweet embrace with her parents in one of the many backstage moments of the final on Saturday night.
The professional dancer, 34, and her partner comedian Chris McCausland, 47, were crowned 2024’s champions after the comedian made history as the show’s first ever blind contestant and winner.
Chris pipped fellow finalists Tasha Ghouri, JB Gill and Sarah Hadland to the post in the ‘best ever’ final, with his cheeky wit and inspiring story helping to save the show following a year of scandals.
And after the final ended there were a series of celebrations and hugs backstage once the cameras had stopped rolling.
Dianne shares a sweet hug with her parents Rina and Mark, who had flown over from their native Australia to be at the final.
Elsewhere head judge Shirley Ballas posed with the stars of the series as the cast and crew let loose backstage at final.
Strictly Come Dancing winner Dianne Buswell shared a sweet embrace with her parents in one of the many backstage moments of the final on Saturday night
Elsewhere head judge Shirley Ballas posed with the stars of the series including Tasha Ghouri (seen) as the cast and crew let loose backstage at final
Shirley posed with finalists Sarah, Tasha and JB and was seen sharing an embrace with pros Lauren Oakley and Aljaž Škorjanec.
This years final, which was the highest-scoring ever, saw all the couples each perform three dances for the judges before hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman announced Chris as the winner of the much sought after Glitterball trophy.
After Chris won, he broke down in tears as he was embraced by his fellow celebs before throwing Dianne triumphantly over his shoulder while the audience went wild.
Asked how the moment felt by Tess and Claudia, Chris said: ‘It’s astonishing, I don’t know what to say.
‘I honestly thought I was going to go out in the first week or two and I know nobody went out in the first week but I still thought I could.
‘We’ve just lasted and lasted and [Dianne] has got so much out of me and she deserves [the trophy] so much’ as he went on to gush over her ‘positivity’ and ‘belief’.
He then joked: ‘Unless she changes her number she’s stuck with me.
‘This is for [Dianne] and everyone out there, it just shows that with the opportunity and support anything is possible!’.
The professional dancer, 34, and her partner comedian Chris McCausland , 47, were crowned 2024’s champions after the comedian made history as the show’s first ever blind contestant and winner
Shirley posed with finalists Sarah, Tasha and JB and was seen sharing an embrace with pros Lauren Oakley and Aljaž Škorjanec (seen)
Shirley and Sarah Hadland pose after the final
The head judge was also seen embracing finalist JB
She also took the time to chat to pro Lauren
Chris pipped fellow finalists Tasha, JB and Sarah to the post in the ‘best ever’ final, with his cheeky wit and inspiring story helping to save the show following a year of scandals
Chris gained his first perfect score of 40 points for a waltz to You’ll Never Walk Alone by Gerry and the Pacemakers, which was his final dance of the series and left the judges and viewers in tears.
His second routine was a medley of dance styles to You Get What You Give by New Radicals and he recreated his viral ‘blackout’ moment for the first dance.
Chris and Dianne also danced to their own choice of tune – Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) by John Lennon.
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Strictly winner Dianne Buswell shares sweet embrace with her parents while Shirley Ballas poses with the stars as the cast and crew let loose backstage at final