Strictly Come Dancing's reigning champion Chris McCausland has revealed an unexpected connection he has to one of this year's finalists. This weekend, the comedian will have to give way to a new winner, as either Karen Carney, George Clarke or Amber Davies succeeds him.
Speaking on spin-off It Takes Two tonight, Chris explained that one of them was previously his neighbour: none other than Karen, competing on the show alongside Carlos Gu.
When Janette Marnrara said "you used to be her neighbour", he joked: "This is gonna do wonders for the house prices where we live, if she can get that Glitterball!"
He explained: "We met during lockdown, we had the same communal garden and she lives around the corner."
On the prospect of no longer being the incumbent champion, he said: "Do you know what, I'm feeling good about it. I feel good! Because it'll still live long.
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"I've still got the Glitterball at home. Can't keep hold of [the title] forever, can you?"
All of this year's finalists will perform three times in the finale, with Karen and Carlos having previously teased a "genius" element of their Showdance.
Carlos said: "There's one moment that's very special, actually. Our starting pose of the Showdance is the ending pose of Couples' Choice.
"And our ending pose of our Showdance is our promo picture; the first picture we ever took together. That was amazingly thoughtful."
He added: "It's come full circle. And it got me straight away. I was like, 'Jake [Leigh, choreographer]! You're a genius!'"
The footballer and her pro partner are one of three remaining couples, competing for the Glitterball alongside Amber with Nikita Kuzmin, and George with Alexis Warr.
Amber and Nikita will set their Showdance to 'Rain On Me' by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande, while George and Alexis will put theirs to the sound of 'Human' by The Killers.
Each couple will also revisit two dances from earlier in the series. One will be picked by them and the other by the judges.
Karen and Carlos' own pick is their week one Jive, while the judges have tasked them with reprising their Argentine Tango. Amber and Nikita will repeat their Paso Doble and Jive, while George and Alexis are going back to their Viennese Waltz and Paso Doble.
The final of Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 7pm on Saturday, 20 December.
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Shaun is an Evening News Editor at Digital Spy, with over a decade of experience reporting on all things pop culture. He has written for outlets including Metro, Attitude, Huffington Post, The Mirror, Yahoo!, Pink News and Express Online, specialising in TV, movies, soaps, music and LGBTQ+ issues. He is also a BAFTA Rocliffe-winning scriptwriter, having written episodes of the soap Hollyoaks, the official Steps musical Here & Now and multiple Offie Award-nominated plays. He studied English Literature and Drama at the University of East Anglia, and will happily talk at length about Desperate Housewives to anyone who'll listen.
