Kevin Clifton has opened up about partner Stacey Dooley, gushing that she had helped him "fall in love with dancing again".
The pro dancer split with wife Karen earlier this year and yesterday admitted that it had been a "difficult year" for him during his appearance on spin-off show It Takes Two .
Speaking ahead of the final tonight, Kevin said that he had "absolutely loved" this series.
Kevin and Stacey are set to compete for the glitterball trophy against Ashley Roberts and Pasha Kovalev, Faye Tozer and Giovanni Pernice and Joe Sugg and Dinne Buswell.
The couple are currently favourites to win the competition.
Kevin said: "I was really hoping to get Stacey as my partner at the beginning because I was a super-fan of her documentaries so when she was announced on the show I was like ‘please, please, please’ but I thought she would be quite serious because of the way she is in her documentaries.
"Then it turned out once we got in the training room that she’s really hyper a lot of time.
"She’s a massive idiot in a really lovely way and just as daft as I am and we have just had a great time.
"I have smiled so much and as if I couldn’t love it any more. I have sort of fallen in love with dance and fallen in love with Strictly all over again, I’ve really, really enjoyed this series."
He also revealed that people often come up to them to thank them for all the joy they bring to the show.
He said: "People come up to us and go ‘I just want to say thank you for how much joy you all bring.
"’When there is loads of stuff going on in the world that isn’t as cool, Strictly is our one thing where we just sit down on a Saturday and we all just love it and don’t ever lose sight of that’ and I think the bigger picture is that is totally what it’s about.
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"It’s not the British Championships or the World Championships, it’s not life or death, the winning isn’t the most important thing in the world.
"Of course I am speaking as someone who seems to be runner-up every single year.
"But of course all of us would love to win, it’s not the most important thing that has ever happened in the history of the universe.
"You have got to keep things in perspective. But of course all of us would really love to win, just once."
The Strictly Come Dancing final airs at 6.30pm on Saturday on BBC1.
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Read More
Strictly Come Dancing 2018
-
Strictly Come Dancing news
-
Who are the finalists?
-
How to get tickets -
Strictly winners
-
The Strictly curse
-
Strictly secrets
-
What does the winner get?
-
When is the final?
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