Strictly Come Dancing was a smash hit on Saturday night as almost 13 million viewers tuned in to see Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton crowned the 2018 champions.

Averaging 11.7 million viewers, with a peak audience of 12.7 million, the grand final became the most watched episode of the series.

It even did better than last Sunday’s final of ITV’s I’m A Celebrity, which drew in 10.9 million viewers.

The ratings for Strictly’s two-and-a-half hour finale reached similar success to last year’s final episode – which saw Joe McFadden and Katya Jones win the series.

The 2017 finale was seen by 13.1 million viewers at its peak, with an average audience of 11.6 million.

Stacey’s victory may not have been a surprise to many as she was firm favourite with bookies to win the series after avoiding the dreaded dance-off each week.

The 31-year-old documentary maker beat Joe Sugg, Faye Tozer and Ashley Roberts to win the Glitterball trophy.

After being crowned the winners, Stacey paid tribute to her partner Kevin – who was finally a winner after finding himself in the final a previous four times.

She said: ‘I’ve had the most incredible time. It’s daunting doing something you haven’t done before – you feel silly, you feel like a bit of an idiot.

‘But Kevin walks you through – and you so deserve this.’

Congrats to Stacey and Kevin!