Gymnast Louis Smith was crowned King of the Christmas Ballroom as he competed in the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special with professional partner Aliona Vilani. The 25-year-old claimed the Christmas Silver Star trophy after earning a perfect score of 40 points from the judges for their Quickstep to Jingle Bells. Sir Bruce Forsyth returned to the show to host this year's Christmas special alongside Tess Daly, which had a special pantomime theme running throughout.
© Photo: BBCLouis Smith and Aliona Vilani received a perfect score from the judges
Reflecting on the result, Louis said: "It's a nice present, I am not going to lie! We've had such a fun time although the first week of rehearsals was hard. But since then we have just been chilling out, laughing and giggling, messing around on the dance floor, it's been really good fun." Louis and his fellow contestants took on the roles of iconic pantomime characters, as he dressed as Jack and the Beanstalk. S Club 7's Rachel Stevens appeared as Tinkerbell, Sophie Ellis-Bextor as Sleeping Beauty, actress Lisa Riley as Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, TV presenter Chris Hollins as Dick Whittington and astrologer Russell Grant as the Genie from Aladdin.
© Photo: BBCThe judges also dressed up as classic pantomime characters
The judges also joined in the festive fun, with Bruno Tonioli appearing as Buttons, Craig Revel-Horwood as The Evil Queen, Darcey Bussell as Fairy Godmother and Head Judge Len Goodman as Cinderella's father Baron Hardup. After watching all dances, the studio audience cast their vote for their favourite couple which was then combined with the judges' scores to decide the winner. The star studded show concluded with a pantomime finale featuring Natalie Lowe as Cinderella.
