It's the end of an era... they'll be very emotional and I will too!

AS HE gears up for the tears that will flow tonight during the Strictly Come Dancing final, Anton du Beke is also bracing himself for even more waterworks than usual.

- NICOLA METHVEN

As well as it being the tightest contest for years, making it impossible to predict who will lift the glitterball trophy, it is also the final appearance for Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.

And he said the farewell to the BBC show's much-loved presenters is going to have them and him in bits.

"Oh, they'll feel really emotional," he told me yesterday, saying the glam pair had put their double departure to one side and "just got on with it" since announcing it back in October.

"Now we're at the end and suddenly it's becoming real that this is actually going to be it. So it's the last time they ever do the show for us and it's absolutely the end of an era," he said. “I mean, Claudia joined series two on It Takes Two, and then came into the series later when she took over from Brucie, but Tess has been there since day one [in 2004].

"She walked onto the ballroom floor at the same time I did, and Craig [Revel Horwood]. So that's a huge moment in time.

Tess, 56, and Claudia, 53, have revealed they had previously made a pact to leave together, having fronted the show as a duo since 2014.

They have stressed they don't want a big fuss on the live show tonight, fearing that it will take some of the glory away from whoever wins.

But Anton, who turns 60 next year, feels it will be impossible to ignore the enormity of them leaving.