Bobby Brazier’s Strictly final tribute to his late mother Jade Goody leaves father Jeff and brother Freddie sobbing as the judges struggle to get their words out after moving routine
Strictly Come Dancing’s Bobby Brazier’s emotional tribute dance to his late mother Jade Goody left his father Jeff and brother Freddie sobbing during Saturday’s final.
Actor Bobby, 20, was only five when Jade, who rose to fame on Big Brother in 2002, died of cervical cancer on Mother’s Day in March 2009.
His father, TV presenter Jeff, 44, single-handedly raised him and younger brother Freddie, 19, with the pair both shedding some tears as they watched on from the audience.
EastEnders star Bobby chose to perform the routine again with his professional partner Dianne Buswell, 34, in this weekend’s final after it was first shown on the show last month, with the screen star also leaving judges Anton Du Beke and Motsi Mabuse close to tears as they gave their comments.
Emotional viewers took to Twitter after the dance, with one person writing: ‘Have to say, seeing Bobby and his family with tears, made me ball my eyes out. Jade would be so proud.’
Strictly Come Dancing ‘s Bobby Brazier ‘s emotional tribute dance to his late mother Jade Goody left his father Jeff and brother Freddie sobbing during Saturday’s final
His father, TV presenter Jeff, 44 (centre), single-handedly raised him and younger brother Freddie, 19 (left), with the pair both shedding some tears as they watched on from the audience
Someone else wrote: ‘I don’t think there’s a time where Bobby dance won’t get me in tears. Cancer is horrible and I know exactly how he feels. It’s horrible. Well done Bobby.’
Another person shared: ‘Not going to lie, Bobby’s last dance certainly had me in tears. You can tell how much it means to him.’
While someone else posted: ‘Tears rolling down my face during that dance. Bobby and Dianne that was absolutely amazing.’
‘I’m so SO happy that Bobby Brazier picked his Couples Choice as his Favourite Dance. It’s such a special routine that’s personal to him I don’t think people appreciated it the first time around. The fact that he’s in tears while dancing too,’ wrote someone else.
Another viewer commented: ‘Whew, crying at Bobby’s dance. Gosh the emotion in that routine.’
And someone else remarked: ‘Seeing Amy crying after Bobby danced for his Mum who died of cancer is just breaking my heart.’
Another show fan wrote: ‘Oh Bobby. Not a dry eye in the ballroom. That song, dance, routine, emotion, everything perfect. What a lovely personal moment. Gah! And Amy crying in the background…’
‘This is so emotional,’ wrote another viwere. ‘Seeing everyone crying as well. Bobby’s an absolute star.’
The screen star also leaving judges Anton Du Beke (pictured) and Motsi Mabuse close to tears as they gave their comments
EastEnders star Bobby chose to perform the routine again with his professional partner Dianne Buswell , 34, in this weekend’s final
Actor Bobby was only five when Jade, who rose to fame on Big Brother in 2002, died of cervical cancer on Mother’s Day in March 2009
Jade (right) was a contestant on the third series of Big Brother in 2002 (pictured with Big Brother host Davina McCall, left)
‘I cant stop crying over Bobby, plus the judges comments,’ noted someone else.
While someone else wrote: ‘Oh Bobby and Dianne. That was lovely. I’m crying. Love you Bobby.’
Another person wrote:’I’m not crying you are. You’re mum would be so proud of you Bobby.’
Before dancing the routine earlier in the series, Bobby said of his mother’s death: ‘It changed my life completely, I’d love to spend a day with her just to see where I get my smile from.’
In the emotional VT before Bobby’s performance with his partner Dianne last month, Jeff paid tribute to Jade and how proud she would be of their son.
He told the camera: ‘As a family we are very tight, we have had to be as loss has made us grow closer.’ Bobby added his love for his dad by saying: ‘To be someone that my dad is proud of is everything.’
Breaking down in tears Jeff called himself ‘the lucky one’, explaining: ‘I’m the one who gets to bring the boys up I’m the one who gets to watch him on Strictly and it brings so much joy to my life, I’m very, very grateful for that.’
It came after Dianne’s father Mark, who lives in Dianne’s native Australia with her mum Rina, started chemotherapy for his own cancer battle.
Emotional viewers took to Twitter after the dance, with one person writing: ‘Have to say, seeing Bobby and his family with tears, made me ball my eyes out. Jade would be so proud
During rehearsals, Dianne admitted she’d been struggling to hold back tears as the song reminds her of how Bobby lost his mother as a child and became the man he is today.
This year’s final will see Bobby Brazier, Ellie Leach and Layton Williams battle it out for the coveted glitterball.
Each celebrity and their professional dance partners will have to dance three times; their favourite dance from the series, a show dance and judges’ pick.
EastEnders actor Bobby, 20, and Dianne Buswell, 34, are set to dance their Couple’s Choice to This Woman’s Work by Maxwell.
The lyrical dance is a tribute to Bobby’s mother who died in 2007 aged 27 after a short battle with cervical cancer.
Their show dance will be to La La La Land Medley while the judges have asked them to perform their Samba to Young Hearts Run Free by Candi Staton.
As for Ellie, 22, and Vito, 31, they will do their show dance to Jennifer Lopez Megamix, judges’ pick Paso Doble to Insomnia by 2WEI, and their favourite routine which is the American Smooth to Ain’t That A Kick In The Head by Robbie Williams.
Layton, 29, and Nikita, 25, will showdance to Friend Like Me by Ne-Yo, do the judges’ pick which is their Quickstep to Puttin’ On The Ritz by Gregory Porter and perform their favourite dance, the Tango to Tattoo by Loreen.
Strictly Come Dancing 2023 final songs and dances
Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin
Favourite Dance – Argentine Tango to Tattoo by Loreen
Show Dance – Friend Like Me by Ne-Yo
Judges’ Pick – Quickstep to Puttin’ On The Ritz by Gregory Porter
Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola
Favourite Dance – American Smooth to Ain’t That A Kick In The Head by Robbie Williams
Show Dance – Jennifer Lopez Megamix
Judges’ Pick – Paso Doble to Insomnia by 2WEI
Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell
Favourite Dance – Couple’s Choice to This Woman’s Work by Maxwell
Show Dance – La La Land Medley
Judges’ Pick – Samba to Young Hearts Run Free by Candi Staton
Strictly Come Dancing 2023 kicked off in September, hosted once again by Tess Daly (right) and Claudia Winkleman (left) (pictured during the final on Saturday)
Strictly Come Dancing 2023 kicked off in September, hosted once again by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman with the return of judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Shirley Ballas.
The 15 celebrities taking to the dance floor this year were revealed to be Bobby Brazier, Annabel Croft, Les Dennis, Angela Rippon, Nigel Harman, Zara McDermott, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Amanda Abbington, Ellie Leach, Angela Scanlon, Nikita Kanda, Adam Thomas, Eddie Kadi, Jody Cundy and Layton Williams.
Professional dancers Dianne Buswell, Nadiya Bychkova, Vito Coppola, Graziano Di Prima, Amy Dowden, Carlos Gu, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Gorka Márquez, Luba Mushtuk, Lauren Oakley, Giovanni Pernice, Jowita Przystał, Johannes Radebe, Michelle Tsiakkas, Kai Widdrington, and Nancy Xu also returned.
Star Amy Dowden sadly was unable to take part, after being diagnosed with breast cancer earlier in the year, but was able to make several cameos during the series.
Week One saw the couples perform for the first time and saw Nigel topping the leaderboard while Angela received a standing ovation for her Cha-cha-cha.
The first celebrity to be sent home was sadly Les, after he and his partner Nancy ended up at the bottom of the leaderboard with just 15 points.
Week 3 was Movie Week, and saw the couples doing routines inspired by classic films.
Sadly Nikita and Gorka were sent packing by the judges after ending up in the dance-off with Zara and Graziano.
Judges (L-R) Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Craig Revel Horwood returned for this year’s series
The next week was the end of the road for Jody and Jowita after a disappointing Salsa, with all the judges opting to save Eddie and Karen.
But the writing was on the wall for Eddie, as he was then sent home the following week.
That same week, Amanda announced she and partner Giovanni could not perform on the live show due to medical reasons, and went straight through to the next week.
But she then dramatically quit the show, initially citing medical reasons before later revealing personal issues on Instagram.
However, it is thought that the reason for her departure was heated rows between her and Giovanni.
Amanda further sparked speculation of a rift with her dance partner when she failed to mention him in the Instagram post announcing her exit.
Week 6 was Halloween week, and the celebrities each took on a scary character with Zara and Graziano’s journey coming to an end.
Adam and Luba survived the dance off against Zara, but didn’t fare as well against Angela and Kai and went home in Week 7.
Former Coronation Street actress Ellie Leach and professional dancer Vito Coppola made it to this year’s final
Week 8 saw Angela and Kai back in the bottom two, but the judges chose to save them, eliminating Krishnan and Lauren.
The next show was staged in the Tower Ballroom at the Blackpool Tower, thrilling the couples that made it that far.
Ultimately Angela and Kai got the chop after surviving several dance-offs, with the judges choosing Bobby and Dianne.
In week 10, Layton and Nikita were in the bottom two for the first time, after online trolls said he is too experienced at dancing to be on the show.
However, three of the judges chose to save Layton and therefore sent home Angela and Carlos.
The following show marked Musicals Week and the quarter-finals, with the couples doing routines from top musicals.
However, only hours before the live show began, Nigel was forced to withdraw from the competition after suffering an injury.
The couple both appeared on the show where Nigel told how he hurt his rib during a jump in rehearsals.
He said: ‘I was about to be caught by some very handsome men but when I landed, I’ve done something to my rib. I’m a little high on painkillers.’
Asked by host Claudia if he had enjoyed his time on the show, Nigel said: ‘Oh I’ve loved it, I’ve loved it. This hasn’t really sunk in.
‘When I was watching everyone coming down the stairs, it was real that I’m not part of it anymore.’
EastEnders actor Bobby Brazier and his professional dancer Dianne Buswell have proven to be a favourite with fans
Katya was full of praise for Nigel’s hard work on the show and looked emotional at the thought of them no longer getting to perform together.
As a result, there was no elimination for Week 11 and all scores carried over to the following week, with Layton and Nikita scoring the first perfect 40 of the series.
In the semi-final, the last four couples had to perform two dances each, with Bobby and Dianne and Annabel and Johannes ending up in the bottom two.
After the dreaded dance-off, Annabel was sadly sent packing, meaning Bobby, Ellie and Layton became this year’s finalists.
STRICTLY COME DANCING 2023: THE CONTESTANTS’ PROFILES
Layton Williams
Age: 28
Profession: Actor
Layton says: ‘Absolutely buzzing to confirm that I will be taking part in THE most iconic dance competition in the UK! It’s time to bring it to the Ballroom. So excited to learn new skills from the best. Bring on the sequins… ALL the sequins!’
Ellie Leach
Age: 22
Profession: Coronation Street star
Ellie says: ‘It still doesn’t feel real that I’m going to be doing Strictly!! It’s always been a dream of mine so I guess dreams really do come true!!!!’
Bobby Brazier
Age: 20
Profession: EastEnders star and model
Bobby says: ‘I’m so excited to be part of the Strictly line up, I can’t wait to start training like a professional dancer and adding a few moves to my locker. I’m looking forward to performing in-front of everyone.’
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