By Geraint Llewellyn and Chikamso Chukwuenyem For Mailonline
01:57 17 Dec 2023, updated 02:18 17 Dec 2023
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Pop icon Cher added a little extra sparkle to the Strictly Come Dancing 2023 final with her breath-taking performance during Saturday’s show, but fans couldn’t help but wonder if she was miming.
The singer, 77, sang a new track from her festive album at the series 21 final – won by Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola.
Cher hopes the single – DJ Play A Christmas Song – will become her first-ever UK Christmas No. 1, but she has some stiff competition.
She wore a beautiful black ensemble with Madonna-style fingerless gloves and a luxurious blonde wig, which she has been sporting of late.
Yet viewers were drawn more to her mouth than her clothing as they accused the music legend of lip synching.
This year’s final saw Bobby Brazier, Ellie Leach and Layton Williams battle it out for the coveted glitter ball trophy.
Strictly’s youngest-ever winner, Ellie came out on top with her partner Vito Coppola who she is rumoured to be in a relationship with.
Cher performed shortly before the winners were announced and yaking to X, formerly Twitter, viewers were quick to comment.
They penned: ‘Cher is miming so so badly #strictly #StrictlyComeDancing #StrictlyFinal’; Cher, the time has come for you to lip sync for your life! Good luck and don’t f**k it up! #Strictly’; ‘I’m gonna go out on a limb and say Cher is miming’;
‘#strictly Cher miming again.’; Cher out of breath miming ffs’; Cher miming where, I think and I could be wrong, all other musical guests have sung this year? #strictly #strictlycomedancing’; Is cher miming #strictly’; ‘I like Cher a lot but why was she miming #Strictly’; ‘Even legends like Cher are miming disappointing #Strictly’; Cher’s miming, there’s no way she’s singing. #Strictly’; You gotta love Cher miming so badly. #strictly’
Other viewers were delighted as they praised the ‘ageless’ star for her performance, penning: ‘Omg I can’t stop singing this song to myself around the house. Absolute banger! #Cher #StrictlyComeDancing #Strictly #StrictlyFinal.’; ‘Cher’s Christmas number 1 looms. Promo on strictly and the Royal Vareity, we can’t fail our ageless Queen #Strictly.’ Wrote a fourth.
‘CHER!!! AHHHH. What a brilliant performance God I love her! #Strictly; ‘Omg Cher was A-MA-ZING #Strictly.’ ‘I’m sorry, but Cher’s christmas song is a BANGER and has the potential to be a MUST on everyone’s christmas playlist every year!!!!! #Strictly’; ”Cher is an icon. One of a kind voice – light thick, warm n dramatic voice #Strictly.’
It comes after Cher, who has enjoyed an incredible career spanning seven decades, recently blasted the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after years of snubs.
During an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson show, the host expressed her shock that Cher wasn’t in the Hall of Fame, the older hitmaker shot back: ‘You know what, I wouldn’t be in it now if they gave me a million dollars.’
The host was flabbergasted and had her mouth hanging open after the Moonstruck star made the admission, but Cher said she wasn’t ‘kidding’ her, before joking that she was ‘about to say something else.’
‘I was gonna say I’m not s***ting you!’ she joked.
Kelly was about to offer some advice in case she changed her mind in the future, but Cher replied: ‘I’m never going to change my mind.’
She added: ‘They can just go you-know-what themselves.’
So far, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has not responded to Cher’s statement.
Meanwhile, Cher recently revealed she fell for boyfriend Alexander ‘AE’ Edwards, 37, over text after a mutual friend gave her number to him in late 2022.
‘I had been telling all my friends, “We’re too old to go out with really younger men, and I will never fall in love on text,”‘ she told People in October. ‘So I did what I said not to do!’
She continued to gush about her new love interest, saying, ‘No matter what happens, I love with being with him. He makes me laugh, and we have fun.
‘What I learned is that it’s never too late. If you wrote out all the statistics, you would go, “Well, this is doomed.” But we’ve been together a year, and if it was just a year, it would’ve been worth it. I’ve had the best time,’ she added.
The duo made headlines during the 2022 holiday season when AE surprised her with a diamond ring, sparking fan excitement about a potential engagement.
Cher downplayed any talk of marriage at the time, yet the move proved the couple were going from strength to strength since first being linked in November 2022.
At the time, the Believe hitmaker admitted that the 40-year age gap between the pair was ‘ridiculous’
‘Well, on paper, it’s kind of ridiculous. But in real life, we get along great. He’s fabulous, and I don’t give men qualities that they don’t deserve,’ she said.
‘He’s very kind, he’s very smart, he’s very talented, and he’s really funny, and I think he’s quite handsome.’
AE follows a long line of A-list romances for Cher, whose first marriage to Sonny Bono ended in divorce in 1975 after a decade.
Between 1978 and 1980, Cher was in a relationship with Gene Simmons, the KISS rocker.
Her marriage to Gregg Allman, the rock star and founder of The Allman Brothers, lasted from 1975 to 1979.
Prior to this, she had a romantic involvement with the mega-producer David Geffen.
In the 1980s, Cher had a brief affair with Tom Cruise, and preceding Tom, she dated his Top Gun co-star, Val Kilmer, from 1982 to 1984.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
