Ultimate Strictly

It was an hour long marathon of a show tonight, as the last It Takes Two of the series took to our screens tonight, and with no post final programme, the two remaining couples had to have the chance to watch their highlights video montage, and it was Ricky who went first. I think the thing for me with Ricky & Natalie is that they take it all so seriously but sometimes it seems as though they trying too hard to be sincere, and I wish they would just be a bit more light hearted and fun at times. It was good to see a recap of all their dances and I'm glad they've picked the quickstep and cha cha cha for tomorrow night.

On a lighter note next it was time for the two leaders on the Strictly Dance Machine Challenge to go head to head to decide the series champion - there was even a trophy at stage for the winner! James won and was totally gracious in victory.

Time next for some of this years contestants to return to the sofa for a chat with Claudia, and Ricky Groves, Natalie Cassidy and Lynda Bellingham were the lucky ones! They're all looking forward to come back tomorrow night and take part in the megamix. Time to ask for their favourite dances, and it was no surprise that Natalie's was the jive and she's even going to carry on post Strictly. Ricky picked his paso doble as he fell in love with it and could get into the spirit of the dance. Lynda was scared most by the cha cha cha, but actually enjoyed it the most and loved her dress! Next they had to pick their favourite of the other celebs dances, and Natalie chose Zoe & James's rumba, Ricky loved Ali & Brian's Viennese waltz and Lynda picked Jade & Ian's foxtrot because Jade had started to soften and she would have been a contender if she hadn't got injured. Nice to see them all back, and looking forward to tomorrow night.

Chris & Ola's turn for their highlights package and final interview next. I love their choice of ballroom to come back with the foxtrot in the final, as it was one of my favourites of their ballroom routines, with beautiful musical choreography from Ola. I'm still not sure whether they should be allowed to pick the charleston, as it's not really a latin dance, but it is a firm favourite with the public, so I'm sure the producers would have been happy to bend the rules to allow them to do it. This interview proves why the public keep voting this pair back in each week - they are fun, animated and showed us how much they are enjoying the experience, and they've had what the Strictly audience love ... a journey! That's justification enough for most people that they deserve their place in the final.

The next video concentrated on putting the two professionals head to head, with Len and James telling us all about Ola, and Len and Ian giving us the low down on Natalie.

And then it was time for the last Friday panel of the year, with judges Len and Bruno plus Nigel Lythgoe reviewing the training footage for tomorrow nights final. They started with the ballroom, and Ricky & Natalie's quickstep, which Len pointed out the great body contact and Nigel said how Ricky is controlling his bowed legs and pigeon toes. Talking about Chris & Ola's foxtrot, Bruno says Chris's head position is too high, and Len doesn't think it looks natural enough. Ricky & Natalie's cha cha cha was given a 10 by Len last time, and he thinks as long as he doesn't mess it up this time, it will get a few more this time round. Nigel thinks the charleston will showcase Chris's personality, but Bruno says they need to make no mistakes tomorrow night. I know they keep the showdances secret but I think we could have had a look at the lindy hop training as well.

Over to TC to link up with James Jordan at final rehearsals. He explained the plan for tomorrow night, with the ballroom round first, and the head to head lindy hop in the first show, then the lines will open for us to start voting. Then back in the results show, they'll dance the latin round plus the showdances, before we had the end of year montage of all the best bits from this series of It Takes Two - one of my highlights of the series! And then it was the final traditional Christmas sing-a-long before it was all over for another year.