Amy Dowden, JB Gill and Lauren Oakley share group hug on Strictly final

Amy Dowden, JB Gill and Lauren Oakley all shared a group hug during the Strictly Come Dancing final.

Welsh dancer Dowden, who had to leave in November following an injury, saw Oakley take over as Gill’s partner during the BBC One competition.

She told Oakley “thank you Lauren, honestly I’m so proud of you” as she embraced her and Gill in the studio.

Dowden also featured in their montage before the second dance, praising his work, while Gill said he owed his first partner and Oakley an “incredible debt of gratitude”, and admitted difficulties as he felt he was on a “roll” with Dowden.

Gill was praised by Anton Du Beke for bringing “unbridled joy” to the competition, and for his “absolutely unbelievable dance” to a Motown Medley, which featured Marvin Gaye’s Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.

Their second dance on Saturday received 39 points, while their first routine, a recreation of their quarter-final Viennese waltz to Let’s Go Fly A Kite from Mary Poppins, was given a perfect score of 40 points.

The pair, who received help from Anton Du Beke during training this week, were told by the judge they were “amazing”, as he also hailed himself as a teacher.

“I know you’ve got three dances tonight, I would like to see that three times,” Du Beke said.

Dowden, 34, made a return to the celebrity contest this year after undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

She said the injury that caused her to pull out of the competition was “nothing to do with any previous health scares”.

She announced in February that tests showed she had “no evidence of disease”, following chemotherapy treatment and a mastectomy.