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What Time does the Strictly 2025 Final Start?
Strictly Come Dancing 2025 is set for a spectacular grand final tonight, with the show beginning at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer and running until around 9.10pm, giving viewers a bumper, movie-length finale to enjoy on Saturday 20 December 2025.
The extended runtime allows space for three full routines from each couple, special performances, a group number featuring the class of 2025, and an emotional farewell to long-time hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman as they front their last live Strictly final together.
The 2025 final brings together three very different celebrity journeys, each with a distinct performance style and fanbase, which sets up one of the most open and intriguing finales the show has seen in recent years. Amber Davies and her professional partner Nikita Kuzmin have been praised for their high-energy routines and musical theatre flair, often impressing the judges with precise technique and stage presence that reflects Amber’s West End background.
George Clarke, dancing with Alexis Warr, has carved out a place in the competition as a hugely popular entertainer, combining charm and storytelling with choreography that plays to his strengths and connects well with the audience at home.
Meanwhile, Karen Carney and Carlos Gu have built an emotional narrative across the series, with Karen’s transformation from football pundit to confident, expressive ballroom performer resonating strongly with viewers and judges alike.
From a scheduling perspective, the 7pm start time positions Strictly as BBC One’s flagship primetime event, capturing family audiences from early evening and holding them right through until after 9pm. The two-hour‑plus slot leaves room not just for dances and judges’ comments, but also for video packages recapping each couple’s journey, behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage, and emotional messages from friends, family and former contestants.
Adding to the sense of occasion, the 2025 final is also framed by uncertainty about the show’s future hosting line-up, with Tess and Claudia confirmed to be stepping down and their replacements yet to be officially announced, which adds an extra layer of nostalgia and significance to this particular finale.
Who will win Strictly 2025?
When it comes to the question of who will win Strictly 2025, the honest answer is that the result remains entirely in the hands of the public, since the final is decided purely by viewer votes rather than judges’ scores. However, pre-final analysis gives some indication of where momentum might lie: several bookmakers and odds comparison sites have reported Karen Carney and Carlos Gu as odds-on favourites, often implying a win probability well above 50%, thanks to their strong late‑series performances, emotional storytelling, and broad appeal to both football fans and Strictly loyalists.
Commentary pieces also note that Karen’s narrative of growth—from tentative early weeks to polished finalist—fits the classic “Strictly journey” template that has historically done well in public votes, which makes her partnership with Carlos a very serious contender for the Glitterball Trophy.
That said, George Clarke and Alexis Warr remain a significant threat, especially given George’s large online following and strong public recognition outside Strictly, which can translate into substantial voting power on the night. Analysts point out that even if he has not always topped the judges’ leaderboard, his relatability, warmth and willingness to take creative risks have earned him a loyal fanbase that could rally behind him in the final, particularly if his show dance lands well with viewers.
Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin, meanwhile, are frequently described as the “technician” couple of the final, with multiple near‑perfect or perfect scores and polished choreography that showcases both precision and performance quality, which leaves open the possibility of a surprise win if a large enough audience appreciates their consistency and theatrical flair.
Ultimately, the winner will be determined by how viewers respond to the three routines each couple performs in the final—Favourite Dance, Judges’ Pick, and Show Dance—and how strongly those numbers connect emotionally on the night. The Favourite Dance allows each pair to revisit a standout routine from earlier in the series, giving them a chance to remind voters why they fell in love with them in the first place, while the Judges’ Pick tests their technical improvement by bringing back a dance chosen specifically to challenge or showcase them.
The Show Dance is the ultimate statement piece, with no strict rules on style or content, meaning the celebrities and their pros can blend different genres, lifts and themes into a single, high-impact routine designed purely to impress and capture votes in the final stretch of the competition.
Because the judges’ scores in the final are “for guidance only” and carry no direct weight in the result, a couple does not need to top the leaderboard to win; they simply need to inspire more people to vote for them than their rivals during the limited online voting window. This makes the final especially unpredictable: even if Karen Carney and Carlos Gu go in as bookies’ favourites, a standout Show Dance from Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin or a hugely entertaining routine from George Clarke and Alexis Warr could dramatically shift public sentiment in real time.
With the stakes higher than ever, the combination of a prime 7pm start, extended running time, three big routines per couple and a public-only vote sets up a dramatic conclusion in which any of the three finalists could realistically walk away as Strictly Come Dancing 2025 champions.
How to vote?
In 2025, Strictly has moved to online-only voting, so all votes are cast via the BBC’s website rather than by phone.
When voting opens
- The vote opens once all three finalist couples have performed their first dance of the night in the live final.
- Tess Daly or Claudia Winkleman will announce on air when the vote is open and later clearly confirm when lines are about to close.
Where and how to vote
- Go to the official Strictly Come Dancing website at bbc.co.uk/strictly or follow the voting link/QR code shown on screen during the show.
- Sign in with or create a BBC account to access the online voting system; registration is free and can be done in advance.
- You can vote using a mobile phone, tablet or computer, and online voting itself is free of charge.
Casting your votes
- Once logged in and the vote is open, select your favourite couple(s) from the finalists list on the Strictly voting page.
- Allocate your available votes (the BBC typically allows multiple votes per account), then click “Submit X votes” to confirm them; once submitted, votes cannot be changed.
- Only votes cast during the voting window announced live on the show will count towards the final result.
Disclaimer
Broadcast times and programme durations for Strictly Come Dancing are based on BBC schedules available at the time of writing. Start times or runtimes may change due to live television requirements. Viewers should check BBC One listings or BBC iPlayer for last-minute updates.
