Strictly Come Dancing 2023: Why was former star Ellie Simmonds rushed to hospital hours before final?

A Strictly Come Dancing legend was revealed to have been rushed to hospital hours before the Strictly Come Dancing final. Gold medal winning Paralympian Ellie Simmonds shared a photo of herself hooked up to a drip ahead of the Christmas period.

The 29-year-old shared a photo from her hospital bed to her Instagram story and thanked staff at Walsall Manor NHS Hospital for looking after her. Ellie took part in Strictly last year with partner Nikita Kuzmin.

Simmonds was born with achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism, and became the first person to compete on Strictly with the condition. The exact nature of her mystery hospitalisation is not known.

After Strictly Come dancing's youngest-ever trio of finalists battled it out in Saturday's live final, the winner of the glitterball trophy was also announced on Saturday evening (December 16). Actress Ellie Leach was crowned the winner of the BBC One show.

The former Coronation Street actress beat Bobby Brazier and Layton Williams to win the competition. The 22-year-old was the bookies' favourite to win and performed with Italian dancer Vito Coppola.

In keeping with the show's tradition, one of the dances was chosen by the judges and although the judges gave an advisory score, it ultimately came down the public's vote. Ellie and Vito's dance routine to Ain't That a Kick In the Head by Robbie Williams saw them earn 40 points. It was the first time Vito had won the competition too. For their show dance, they performed to a Jennifer Lopez megamix.

And the competition was stiff on the night. Ultimately it was Ellie and Vito's night but Layton and Nikita topped the leaderboard, scoring 119, followed by Bobby and Dianne with 117 and Ellie and Vito at 115.

Another highlight of the show was a performance by music superstar Cher, while the Strictly professionals performed the opening dance number, dressed in black and white, with Amy Dowden also getting involved. The 33-year-old did not partner with a star this year due to her breast cancer treatment.

Ellie Leach is best known for her role as Faye Windass on ITV soap Coronation Street - a character she played for 12 years. She has been nominated for multiple British Soap Awards and Inside Soap Awards for her role which included plot lines like falling pregnant at 13 and later reconnecting with the child she gave up.

She has described the experience on Strictly Come Dancing as "life-changing" and totally different to her experience filming Corrie. This year's series - the BBC dance show's 21st - began in September with 15 celebrities. In last year's competition, presenter Hamza Yassin was crowned winner alongside his dance partner Jowita Przystal.