Despite BBC presenter Susanna Reid being favourite to win the show, Abbey took the title, also beating Natalie Gumede, whose final performance was described by judge Bruno Tonioli as ‘one of the best he had ever seen.’
Speaking of her victory, Abbey, 27, said: “I just can’t believe this. It’s just mad.”
And Abbey revealed that her trophy would have a special spot in her house. She said: “[My daughter] will love this. It will go in her room. I’m just so shocked.”
During the final, which saw 6 million people vote for their favourite to win, Abbey and her partner Aljaz Skorjanek performed the showdance and the waltz
Aljaz said of their win: “I can’t believe it. What a journey, I can only thank you [Abbey], you’ve been incredible.”
Abbey’s husband, footballer Peter Crouch, was watching in the audience as she was crowned the winner. Abbey said: “It was awesome having Peter in the audience. He played today and scored and so did my brother and to have them here was just incredible. I had an angel looking down on me today.”
Talking about her relationship with Aljaz, Abbey said that Peter has nothing to worry about.
She said: “Why would he be jealous? Pete’s been wonderful and he wasn’t jealous at all. He loves the show.
“I think he’s looking forward to having me back. We’ll be doing lots of dancing in the living room – we do that anyway.
“When I won he kissed me and twirled me around – he’s amazing.”
It seemed that Abbey couldn’t get over her shock of winning, after she tweeted: 'Wow just wow thank u everyone u have made my dream come true I can’t believe it x
‘Seriously how has this happened still in shock and just seriously can’t believed you loved watching me as much as I loved dancing !!!!!’
Although she didn’t win, Susanna wasn’t too disheartened. The 43-year-old said: “I’m going to miss it so much, the greatest prize for me was dancing with Kevin. I felt like a winner everyday.”