Strictly viewers were left in tears within moments of Saturday's final starting as Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman spoke about 'a tough day' following Boris Johnson's shocking Christmas announcement.
Hours before the final kicked off,the Prime Minister addressed the nation for an emergency briefing on Christmas and announced that London and many parts of the south east would be placed in the new fourth tier, which bans any household mixing, with all Christmas bubbles scrapped and the rest of the country told they'll only be able to mix with other households on Christmas Day only.
Some Strictly fans were concerned the final wouldn't even happen after the outcome of the PM's press conference and, while it did indeed go ahead, long-serving host Tess acknowledged the day's heartbreaking news with her first words in the live broadcast.
Taking the reins with Claudia, Tess said we needed Strictly "now more than ever" adding "after a tough day we will do our very best to keep you entertained."
Claudia told viewers: "Now earlier this year we didn’t know if Strictly could even happen and tonight our audience is made up of the brilliant team that got us here.”
And viewers, still shell shocked by the news on Christmas, were choked up. One tweeted: "omg not me crying my eyes out at tess and claudia being emotional on strictly . this year has been so s**t it’s so nice to just escape it for a few hours," and, in agreement, another reacted: "Just me or do Tess and Claudia seem slightly emotional introducing this evening’s Strictly?"
Many others were also nearly needing tissues, with a third posting: "Anyone else already watery-eyed watching #Strictly ? Just me? It's been emotional!"
