Strictly Come Dancing 2025 final: how does the scoring and voting work? Rules explained
Strictly Come Dancing’s scoring works a bit differently in the 2025 final! 💃🕺
- Strictly Come Dancing has reached its 2025 final.
- The way the judges’ score works is a bit different tonight.
- But how exactly does the scoring work?
A twist to the scoring has been confirmed for the final of Strictly Come Dancing. The way that scores work is a bit different tonight.
Viewers are being reminded of how the winner of series 23 will be decided with a few hours to go before the grand finale. The three remaining celebs are set to hit the ballroom floor in a bid to lift the Glitterball Trophy.
But how will the winner of Strictly Come Dancing be decided? Here’s all you need to know:
How do the judges' scores work in Strictly Come Dancing?
During the course of the previous 12 weeks of live shows, the judges' scores have played a huge role in deciding which celebrities stay and who will go. After each performance they hand out a score out of 10, meaning a maximum of 40 points were available.
In a piece on BBC Bitesize, Norman Biggs, emeritus professor of mathematics at the London School of Economics, explained: “The judges award the contestants scores out of 40. The scores are then converted into a ranking list of points. If there are six contestants and no ties, the list would be: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”
However, for the final of Strictly Come Dancing, the judges’ scores are only advisory. They will not count towards the overall winner - but might help audiences make up their mind.
How is the winner of Strictly 2025 decided?
Unlike previous weeks of the competition, the judges’ scores do not count towards the winner in tonight’s final (December 20). Instead, the decision will solely come down to the public vote.
Expect the lines to open after all of the celebrities have performed their routine this evening - to give each a fair chance. Hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly will announce when they have opened - and when they shut.
Professor Briggs explained that the voting results are converted into a numerical score. He added: “The public vote produces a similar list, but because the number of votes is large, it is practically impossible for ties to occur, so the list always contains all the numbers from 6 to 1 in some order (based on six contestants being left.”
Once all the votes have been counted and ordered into a leaderboard, the celeb who is at the top will be crowned the winner. The result is set to be announced in tonight’s (December 20) final - so audiences don’t have to wait for a results show.
Remind yourself of the elimination order for this year’s edition of Strictly Come Dancing. Here’s all you need to know.