Hamza Yassin was crowned the winner of Strictly Come Dancing 2022 in a glittering final against Helen Skelton, Fleur East and Molly Rainford.
In a tear-jerking final that highlighted the dancers' most memorable moments throughout the thirteen-week run, several perfect scores were awarded across the board. But did the right dancer take the Glitterball? Weighing in on another fabulous season are former Strictly professionals and world champions Ola and James Jordan, with their final column of the season.
WATCH: See the moment Hamza Yassin is crowned the Strictly champion
HELLO!: Were there any surprises on the night?
James: Firstly, what an incredible show. It was so interesting how three of the four couples chose 'Couple's Choice' as their final dance, however. To me, it highlighted two things… that Couple's Choice is much easier than any of the Ballroom and Latin dances, and secondly, that it's so similar to the show dance.
Ola: Maybe they shouldn't be allowed to do Couple's Choice in the final? I think it overshadows the show dance too much.
READ MORE: Strictly's Hamza Yassin reveals struggle ahead of the final with very candid comment
James: We did predict that Hamza could be the one to take the crown - though I think deep down we were hoping Helen would win. I just think Helen deserved it more than anyone else. I don't mean that to sound bad, but I felt that she's been the most consistent throughout the series.
Helen Skelton was James and Ola's favourite to win
Ola: Helen was also constantly undermarked throughout the series. We said so many times that we felt she deserved higher scores.
James: If we're going off the final alone, I do think Helen produced far better dances than Hamza - but that was reflected in the leaderboard, right? Hamza was at the bottom.
Ola: Having said that, Hamza was such a joy to watch this season. I did notice he messed up his show dance, which I think was partly why he was at the bottom of the leaderboard.
James: Definitely! It's not wrong that he won. Hamza is a commendable champion.
HELLO!: If the winner was decided purely by the judges, and you were on the panel, who would be your winner?
Ola: If we're talking about dancing alone, from the night of the final only, I think Fleur was the most deserving winner.
James: I agree, she was the best on the night and deserved to be on the top of the leaderboard. Our column readers will know that I've given Fleur a hard time throughout this series, saying I expect more and that I know she has the potential. But she stole the show last night!
Fleur East topped the leaderboard at the final
Ola: Her Samba was exceptional and her show dance for me was the best of the night, I really enjoyed it. If it was a real professional competition judged solely on the dancing then she would have won.
James: I think overall, it could have been anyone's glitterball. If I was voting on the entire experience and who I was most invested in, then my heart would have voted for Helen and Gorka, but Hamza winning is great too.
Ola: I felt sorry for Molly in a way, because I don't think she would have won given that she's been in the bottom two so many times.
James: I just don't think Molly had the public support like the others did. We didn't love her show dance either.
Ola: A show dance, for me, should be a combination of all of the things you've learned throughout your time on Strictly. It should be a celebration of the show. It should totally have that 'WOW' factor, but I just didn't get that in Molly's dance.
Molly and Carlos chose to re-do their Rumba
James: I felt like there was just a lot of running around with red gloves on - I was waiting for the dishes to come out and for them to start doing the dishes together!
Ola: I felt disappointed with it, I just felt like she had so much more to give.
James: At the end of the day, there is no right or wrong winner and that's the beauty of Strictly Come Dancing. It's the public's choice and that is the right decision. I'm really happy for Jowita too - her first year on the show and she won, what an accomplishment!
Ola: I totally agree, Jowita is a wonderful addition to the Strictly team.
HELLO!: Anton said that watching Hamza dance makes him "emotional" and watching him dance is "like the clouds part and the sun comes out". What do you think of that?
James: Hamza is the most naturally gifted dancer on the show this year, and he had no previous dance training at all. That's truly special.
Ola: I'd agree with Anton. He's such a joyful person, he seems so endearing. I can so see why people voted for them. It's not just about the dancing - otherwise, it would be a proper dance competition, which it's not! I won with Chris Hollins, for example, we were just a joyful dance partnership.
Hamza was crowned the 2022 champion
James: No matter what anyone says, Hamza is the champion and deservedly so. He touched people's hearts. You don't have to be the best dancer to win Strictly - and that's what I love about the show.
Ola: Even if Tony Adams had one, it's still the right decision - because that's who the public wanted to win.
James: Exactly. As much as Fleur deserved to win on the night, as much as we were rooting for Helen, the right winner was Hamza.
HELLO! Jowita is the first new professional to win Strictly in her first year on the show, is it harder for new pros to get to the final?
James: I wouldn't say so, no! I actually really love that there were so many new professionals in the final. It all depends on the ability of your celebrity. In our day when we were on Strictly when the new professionals came in, they typically were never given a celebrity who they knew would be a 'good' dancer.
Ola: Nowadays, the producers and choreographers get to see people's abilities before they're given their pros. Back in our day nobody knew who was going to be good and who was going to be bad.
Hamza delighted the judges with a series of memorable dances
James: The new pros were never given the 'good' dancers because they hadn't been tried and tested. The standard of Strictly is so high now, there are far fewer cases where you see someone like Anton paired with Ann Widdicombe.
DISCOVER: What is Strictly star Anton du Beke's real name?
Ola: I love that Jowita was a new professional and won. That's not to say the new pros are better than any of the older professionals who have done Strictly several times.
James: Maybe it will be Gorka's time next year! We'll be watching for sure.
If you've loved chiming into James and Ola's Strictly Speaking column with HELLO!, keep a look out for their exclusive parenting column next week- which includes an exciting announcement from the much-loved Strictly couple you won't want to miss.
Like this story? Sign up to our Strictly Come Dancing newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.