In Another World

Chapter 20

"The winners of Strictly Come Dancing 2018 are..."

With everyone on tenterhooks, the whole room was silent; save for the drumbeat building up to the big reveal. After three months of blood, sweat and tears (and a lot of drama!), it all came down to this.

The last week had flown by like a whirlwind. The final four Strictly couples had been up to their eyeballs in routines: Judge's Choice, Show Dance, Couple's Favourite, and the group dance. It was a lot for them to get their heads around. So, Joe hadn't been surprised not to hear much from Zoe or Dianne for almost a week. As per the semi-finals, Alfie and Johannes had been Joe's go-to guys for finding out how the girls were doing. Perhaps Joe was naïve, but he hadn't thought that the situation could have been any more stressful than it had been the week before... boy, had he been wrong!

The night before the Final, Joe had shown up at Elstree to see the two most important women in his life. He and Zoe had only managed to have a brief chat before she and Neil were ushered off to film their segment on It Takes Two, leaving Joe to find Dianne on his own. As he spotted his girlfriend trudging out of hair and makeup, he offered her a bouquet of flowers as an extra surprise. The redhead had practically crumbled into his arms, overwhelmed by emotion and exhaustion; and ruining her freshly applied mascara! Joe would have been more alarmed by her reaction had he not witnessed the rest of the finalists in similar states! After so many weeks of hard work (not to mention, everything that they had been through outside of dancing), it was hardly a surprise that they wouldn't be in the cheeriest of spirits! In the midst of the tears, Dianne had seemed happy to see Joe, and the young man had treated her after leaving the studio to her favourite takeaway, followed by a bubble bath and a massage. The dancer had made a mental note to repay him as soon as she could; as soon as he became her top priority.

At least the speculation about Zoe and Neil seemed to have faded away, giving them one less thing to worry about in the final week. And it also meant that Joe and Dianne's agreement to 'slow things down' was easier to achieve, since she in particular had been too busy to concentrate on her relationship. But Joe hoped that she didn't feel guilty about it; he totally understood that Strictly was her main focus, if only for a few more days. Speaking of which, the Grand Final had been spectacular. With only a few marks between the couples, it was a nail-biting night. If he hadn't had personal connections to any of them, Joe wouldn't have been able to pick a favourite; every dance from every couple had been fantastic, and they were all equally deserving of the glitterball. However, there could only be one winner...

"Zoe and Neil!"

The whole room erupted into cheering and applause as the winning pair almost collapsed in shock. Joe was practically jumping for joy, and Alfie's face shone with pride at his girlfriend's triumphant victory. Standing beside the winners, Lee and Dianne beamed and applauded excitedly as Neil picked Zoe up and spun her around. The redhead had been prepared to be a runner-up anyway, despite her and Lee having had the best response from the judges and audience than they'd ever had before. She would have been beyond happy for whoever had won, but the fact that it was Zoe made it even better. Her friend had consistently improved over the series thanks to her and Neil's hard work, and they both deserved it after everything they had been through over the last few months. The rest of the finalists crowded around the winners as they struggled to comprehend what was going on, which wasn't helped by Tess and Claudia insisting that the pair give speeches on the spot!

"Um, okay... where do I even start?!" Zoe exclaimed breathlessly, "I guess first of all, thank you to everyone who's voted and supported us week in and week out; we couldn't have done it without you. Thank you to my friends and family, who have been so encouraging and understanding through all of this... even though I haven't always been easy to encourage or understand! Thank you to everyone involved in the show: from the pros and celebs, to the band and the runners; you've been so wonderful, and the show wouldn't be the same without each and every one of you," she paused to take a shaky breath before turning to her partner with glistening eyes, "But most of all, thank you to Neil. It's not been the easiest few months, but you have been consistently amazing: you are a talented dancer, a brilliant teacher, and an awesome friend; and you deserve this trophy more than anyone else on the planet!" she finished tearfully.