JLS star JB wins Strictly at Christmas

JLS star JB Gill has let his jive do the talking as he was crowned the winner of the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special. Viewers saw the chart star land a near perfect score as he and Ola Jordan performed a routine to Rockin' Robin, beating contestants such as Sheila Hancock and miracle footballer Fabrice Muamba. Gill's jive landed a 10 from three of the judges and even the hard-to-please Craig Revel Horwood awarded a nine, declaring: "I loved it." The singer - whose hits include Makes Me Wanna and Everybody In Love - was delighted with his win and said his bandmates would be pleased. "It feels really, really, really, really good, I'm sure the boys will be proud. It was an incredible experience." JB - whose bandmate Aston Merrygold is an old pal of Louis Smith, the winner of the 2012 Strictly grand final - won after triumphing in the vote by the studio audience. Chief judge Len Goodman told him: "JB, I'll tell you what it stands for - jive bunny. Hopping and bopping. It wasn't contained - it was full-on and flat-out. For one week of training, that was fantastic." And Bruno Tonioli added: "Don't try that at home - not with a full stomach, it won't be pretty." As ever Craig found a few faults. He told JB: "It was a little bit flat-footed, you had a nasty slip moment over there as well which ruined a little bit of it. But I've got to say - amazing amount of character in that dance." Also taking part in the show were Blue Peter's Helen Skelton, veteran comic Bobby Ball and comedy actress Katy Brand. The programme also featured an all-star routine from former competitors including Kelly Brook, Chris Hollins, Chelsee Healey, Russell Grant, Ann Widdecombe, and the first Strictly champion Natasha Kaplinsky. And in a sketch featuring the judges sitting down to their Christmas dinner, they poked fun at Darcey Bussell's habit of punctuating her sentences with the word 'Yah?'

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.