Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood was forced off the panel as Claudia Winkleman issued a huge announcement.

The final of the BBC competition kicked off on Saturday evening (December 14), with Chris McCausland, JB Gill, Tasha Ghouri and Sarah Hadland performing their last ever routines.

JB, 38, kicked things off with his professional partner Lauren Oakley, with the couple performing the Viennese Waltz.

After their first dance, Craig admitted that he couldn’t fault the performance and the duo were awarded four 10s from the judges.

Moments later, Claudia asked Craig to join them in the studio as she shared some news about the judge, who has been on the panel since the show kicked off in 2004.

The presenter said: “This is weird but we’ve been waiting years for this. I’m going to need Craig up here. Craig, can you come up?”

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Craig Revel Horwood abruptly left the judging panel (Image: BBC)

The 59-year-old then abruptly left his fellow judges and rushed to join Claudia and the dancers up in the studio.

Claudia quipped: “Craigy. It has taken 20 years. It’s taken 22 series. Guess what’s just happened?”

Craig responded: “I have no clue.”

The TV host revealed: “You have just given your hundredth 10.”

The studio erupted with cheers before Craig was handed a glitzy hairband with the number 100 written on it.

The judge thanked everyone before heading back to the panel. Tess Daly added: “Craig, we do love it when you get your tens out.”

The final four contestants will perform three final routines as they hope to win the coveted glitterball trophy.

After dancing the Viennese Waltz, JB, who was originally partnered with Amy Dowden, and Lauren will perform their Show Dance to a medley of famous Motown songs.

Claudia revealed that Craig gave his hundredth 10 (Image: BBC

Their other routine will be the Samba to Sergio Mendes’ ‘Mas Que Nada’. Chris and Dianne Buswell’s first performance came in the form of their Couple’s Choice.

For their Show Dance, which allows each couple to incorporate multiple styles of dance, the couple will dance to New Radicals’ ‘You Get What You Give’.

Their final dance will be the Waltz to ‘You Will Never Walk Alone’ by Gerry and the Pacemakers.

Sarah and Vito Coppola performed the Cha Cha to Madonna’s ‘Like a Prayer’. They will also do their Show Dance to ‘Cabaret’ by Metropole Orkest and recreate their American Smooth to ‘Proud’ by Heather Small.

Tasha and Aljaž Škorjanec’s first routine was their Couple’s Choice to ‘What About Us’ by P!nk. Their Show Dance will be performed to ‘Sing, Sing, Sing’ by Benny Goodman before performing the American Smooth to ‘Someone You Loved’ by Lewis Capaldi.