Underdog Chris Hollins and dance partner Ola Jordan win Strictly

Figures released today show that over 11 million viewers tuned into last night’s Strictly Come Dancing final to see sports presenter Chris Hollins win the competition and pick up the famous glitter ball trophy.

Although the viewing figures sound impressive, disappointingly the numbers are down on last year when 13.3 million viewers switched on to catch the Strictly final.

Chris Hollins beat off stiff competition from the favourite to win the show, Hollyoaks actor Ricky Whittle, to pick up the title of Strictly champion 2009. Both celebrities along with their professional dance partners had the mammoth task of performing 4 separate dances each, with Chris ending one of his dances, standing on the judges’ table. Despite receiving fewer points from the judges, Chris, along with dance partner Ola Jordan, beat Ricky after winning the public vote.

After the show, Ricky described how he had been suffering from an inguinal hernia during his time on the Strictly. The actor kept the medical problem as secret for fear of being made to leave the show, and to prevent getting put through on a sympathy vote from the public.

Despite being crowned the winner of Strictly Come Dancing, grounded sports presenter Chris has no grand ambitions for a career in dance and said he’s perfectly happy to “stick to the day job.” Runner-up Ricky Whittle on the other hand has seriously big ideas for the future and has revealed he plans to leave Hollyoaks in order to try his luck over in Hollywood.