Dust down the glitterball...here's the Strictly Come Dancing final

Back in September, 15 celebrities took to the Strictly dancefloor for the first time, and many viewers were struck by how high the standard was.

Admittedly, Les Dennis struggled a bit, but he was also the first to be voted out.

Meanwhile, the likes of Ellie Leach, Layton Williams and Nigel Harman quickly emerged as frontrunners, while much of the social media chatter focused on 78-year-old Angela Rippon (she turned 79 during the run), who proved that she was still impressively flexible with a leg-raising cha cha.

Even further down the table, the celebs made an impression – many viewers would probably admit they didn’t have high hopes for newsreader Krishnan Guru-Murthy, but he defied expectations and made it all the way to a very respectable week eight.

Some people who made strong starts later faltered – comedian Eddie Kadi became the first celebrity to score a 10 for his movie week couples’ choice, but it seemed the judges felt he was less strong in dances where there were rules about footwork, and he was eliminated in week five.

Former soap star Adam Thomas also bowed out earlier than some people would have expected, while Amanda Abbington picked up high scores in the first four weeks, but then withdrew from the competition, meaning we didn’t get to find out how far she could go.

Angela Rippon bowed out at Blackpool, and Angela Scanlon went the week after, despite having picked up 10s in the previous show for a sultry Argentine Tango.

Annabel Croft proved to have more staying power than many people were expecting – although she’d been elegant in the ballroom dances, not many viewers had her down as a Latin girl until she surprised us with a samba – and after seemingly plateauing at midtable, EastEnders star Bobby Brazier moved the judges to tears with an emotional couple’s choice.

Then the show was thrown a curveball when Nigel suffered an injury ahead of his Musicals Week Charleston and had to withdraw. It meant that the dance-off was cancelled and the remaining celebs got to carry their marks through to the semi-final.

But as we reach the final, will we be in for any other surprises?

What we do know is that Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman are on presenting duties as the remaining couples perform their own favourite routine, a dance chosen for them by judges and their no-holds-barred showdance.

Judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke will be scoring their efforts, but their marks are only for guidance – it’s the viewers who decide who will follow in the footsteps of 2022 champions Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal.

The class of 2023 are set to return for a group routine (or at least the ones who aren’t injured), and if previous years are anything to go by, we should probably also expect some talking head VTs from members of the public about their favourite moments from the series.

And of course, an epic show deserves an epic guest – and the show’s bosses have delivered with a true legend, Cher.