Strictly stars gear up for final, with Tess and Claudia set to bow out
After weeks of intense competition, the Strictly Come Dancing finalists are primed to take to the dance floor one last time.
Just three couples remain of the 15 at the start of the series, with celebrities Amber Davies, George Clarke and Karen Carney vying to get their hands on the glitterball trophy.
It's also the last time Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman will present a Strictly final. The pair announced they would be stepping down at the end of the current series.
The grand final will be broadcast on Saturday from 19:00 GMT on BBC One and iPlayer.
One of the main talking points leading into the final has been whether Amber Davies' performing background has given her an unfair advantage.
The Love Island star has faced a backlash online with people pointing out she's had roles in West End musicals Pretty Woman, 9 to 5: The Musical, and The Great Gatsby, as well as competing in the 16th series of Dancing on Ice.
This week, she told BBC News and other reporters at a Strictly press conference that she could "appreciate" where the comments are coming from.
"I have experience compared to these two," she said, gesturing at the other finalists. "I'm not shying away from that. However, I would say that the love actually does outshine the hate."
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When asked whether she deserves to win, the actress, who is paired with Nikita Kuzmin, said: "I feel like I have worked just as hard as these guys going into the final, because I had to fight to get into the final."
The backlash is perhaps a symptom of a wider theme on Strictly, where over the years some viewers have appeared to form their own judgements on contestants, regardless of what the judges think or what the overall audience vote says.
Earlier this series Lewis Cope received criticism for having been a child actor in Billy Elliot, for example, and last year JB Gill came under fire for having danced before in the boyband JLS.
