Series 20

## Series Chronology

The twentieth series of *Strictly* started with a launch show on 23rd September 2022, with the live shows commencing on 24th September. As with previous series, 15 celebrities will compete in the series.

Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman returned as presenters, with Rylan Clark-Neal and Janette Manrara returning to present *It Takes Two*.

Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton du Beke all returned to the judging panel.

The series was won by wildlife presenter, Hamza Yassin and his partner Jowita Przystał.

## Development

In August, the BBC confirmed that Strictly would return to the Blackpool Tower Ballroom for the first time since the seventeenth series. It was also announced that there would be a new special themed week to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the BBC, with the couples dancing to "a theme tune from an iconic BBC programme or in tribute to one of the BBC's most loved services".

## Professionals

On 22nd February, the BBC announced that Oti Mabuse would be leaving the show after 7 years, and slightly over a month later, they announced that Aljaž Škorjanec would be leaving after 9 years.

Three days after announcing Aljaž’s departure, they confirmed that the other professionals from Series 19 would return.

In July, the BBC announced that 4 new professionals would be joining the Strictly professional lineup for the series; European cup winner Vito Coppola, Chinese National Champion Carlos Gu, former Under 21 British National Champion Lauren Oakley and Latin dance champion Michelle Tsiakkas.

Jowita Przystał received a celebrity partner for the first time, as did new professionals Vito Coppola and Carlos Gu, while Neil Jones, Luba Mushtuk, Cameron Lombard and other new professionals Lauren Oakley and Michelle Tsiakkas did not receive a partner.

## Scoring Chart

*Red numbers*  indicate the couples with the lowest score for each week.
Green numbers  indicate the couples with the highest score for each week.
"-" indicates the couple(s) that did not dance that week.
     indicates the couple that was eliminated that week.
     indicates the couple who was in the bottom two but was not eliminated.
     indicates the couple withdrew from the competition that week.
     indicates the winning couple.
     indicates the runner-up couple.
     indicates the third place couple.
### Average Chart

*This table only counts dances scored on a 40-point scale.*

## Dance Scoring

### Highest and Lowest Scoring Performance

* *The best and worst performances in each dance style, according to the judges' 40-point scale.*

### Couples' Highest and Lowest Scoring Dances

*The highest and lowest performances of each couple during the series.*

## Weekly Scores

*Unless indicated otherwise, individual judges scores in the charts below (given in parentheses) are listed in this order from left to right: Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas, Anton du Beke.*

### Launch Show

* *Featuring musical guest, John Legend with a performance of his song, "All She Wanna Do", and a dance performance by Series 19 Champions, Rose Ayling-Ellis & Giovanni Pernice*

### Week 2

* *Featuring musical guest, Robbie Williams with a performance of his song, "She's the One".*

**Dance Off:** Kaye & Kai, Matt & Nadiya

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Ballas, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Matt & Nadiya
* Mabuse: Matt & Nadiya
* Du Beke: Matt & Nadiya
* Ballas: *did not vote, but would have saved Kaye & Kai*

**Eliminated Couple**: Kaye & Kai

### Week 3: Movie Week

* *Featuring musical guest, Adam Lambert with a performance of his song, "Mad About the Boy".*

**Dance Off:** Fleur & Vito, Richie & Giovanni

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Ballas, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Fleur & Vito
* Mabuse: Fleur & Vito
* Du Beke: Fleur & Vito
* Ballas: *did not vote, but would have saved Richie & Giovanni*

**Eliminated Couple**: Richie & Giovanni

### Week 4

* *Featuring musical guest, George Ezra with a performance of his song, "Dance All Over Me".*

**Dance Off:** Kym & Graziano, Matt & Nadiya

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Ballas, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Kym & Graziano
* Mabuse: Kym & Graziano
* Du Beke: Kym & Graziano
* Ballas: *did not vote, but would have saved Kym & Graziano*

**Eliminated Couple**: Matt & Nadiya

### Week 5: Celebrating BBC 100 Week

* *Celebrating **100 Years of the BBC**, with the professionals' opening dance to the theme tune of Planet Earth*
* In celebration of 100 Years of the BBC, all the routines this week are to BBC show themes or BBC related songs.
* *Featuring musical guest, Becky Hill with a medley performance of her songs, "Crazy What Love Can Do"/"My Heart Goes (La Di Da)"/"Remember"*

**Dance Off:** Jayde & Karen, Molly & Carlos

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Ballas, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Molly & Carlos
* Mabuse: Molly & Carlos
* Du Beke: Molly & Carlos
* Ballas: *did not vote, but would have saved Molly & Carlos*

**Eliminated Couple**: Jayde & Karen

### Week 6: Halloween Week

* *Featuring musical guest, Rina Sawayama with a performance of her song, "This Hell".*

**Dance Off:** Fleur & Vito, James & Amy

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Ballas, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Fleur & Vito
* Mabuse: Fleur & Vito
* Du Beke: Fleur & Vito
* Ballas: *did not vote, but would have saved Fleur & Vito*

**Eliminated Couple**: James & Amy

### Week 7

* *Featuring musical guest, Luke Evans with a performance of his song, "Bridge over Troubled Water".*

**Dance Off:** Ellie S. & Nikita, Molly & Carlos

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Ballas, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Molly & Carlos
* Mabuse: Molly & Carlos
* Du Beke: Molly & Carlos
* Ballas: *did not vote, but would have saved Molly & Carlos*

**Eliminated Couple**: Ellie S. & Nikita

### Week 8

* *Featuring musical guests, Sheku Kanneh-Mason & Zak Abel with a performance of their song, "Same Boat".*

Tony & Katya and Tyler & Dianne were announced as the bottom two couples, however due to Tony sustaining a hamstring injury during his original performance, he was unable to compete in the dance-off and therefore withdrew from the competition.

### Week 9: Blackpool Week

* *Featuring musical guest, Sam Ryder with a performance of his songs, "You're the Voice" & "All the Way Over".*

**Dance Off:** Molly & Carlos, Tyler & Dianne

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Ballas, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Molly & Carlos
* Mabuse: Molly & Carlos
* Du Beke: Tyler & Dianne
* Ballas: Molly & Carlos

**Eliminated Couple**: Tyler & Dianne

### Week 10

* *Featuring musical guests, Joel Corry & Tom Grennan with a performance of their song, "Lionheart (Fearless)".*
* Due to Kym testing positive for COVID-19, Kym & Graziano were unable to perform, having been due to dance a Couple's Choice to "I Feel for You" by Chaka Khan. The producers gave them a bye to the following week.

**Dance Off:** Ellie T. & Johannes, Fleur & Vito

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Ballas, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Fleur & Vito
* Mabuse: Fleur & Vito
* Du Beke: Fleur & Vito
* Ballas: *did not vote, but would have saved Fleur & Vito*

**Eliminated Couple**: Ellie T. & Johannes

### Week 11: Musicals Week (Quarter-Final)

* The Musicals Week broadcast was brought forward to Friday 2nd December rather than usual Saturday time, for the BBC to accommodate World Cup airing on BBC One.
* *Featuring musical guests, The Cher Show.*

**Dance Off:** Kym & Graziano, Molly & Carlos

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Ballas, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Molly & Carlos
* Mabuse: Molly & Carlos
* Du Beke: Kym & Graziano
* Ballas: Molly & Carlos

**Eliminated Couple**: Kym & Graziano

### Week 12: Semi-Final

* Much like Week 11, the broadcast of the Semi-Final was pushed back to Sunday 11th December for the BBC to accommodate World Cup airing on BBC One.
* *Featuring musical guest, Lewis Capaldi with a performance of his song, "Pointless".*

**Dance Off:** Fleur & Vito, Will & Nancy

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Ballas, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Fleur & Vito
* Mabuse: Fleur & Vito
* Du Beke: Will & Nancy
* Ballas: Fleur & Vito

**Eliminated Couple**: Will & Nancy

### Week 13: Final

* *The Final involves each couple dancing three times; the Judges' Pick, Couple's Favourite Dance and the Showdance. Judges scores are just a guideline, with public vote alone deciding the Strictly Champions 2022.*
* *Featuring a group dance starring the Strictly cast of 2022, and musical guests, Florence and the Machine, with a performance of their song, "My Love"*

**Strictly Champions**: Hamza & Jowita

## Series Trivia

* Du Beke won the National Television Award for Talent Show Judge, and was given a standing ovation at the start of the series' Week 4 show.
* This was the first series to have the highest scoring Week 4 ever in the show's history.
* This is the first series in 3 years since Strictly last returned to the home of Ballroom dance, the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool, with Week 9 being the series' Blackpool Week. *Due to COVID restrictions, during Series 18 and 19, the Blackpool Week show was cancelled and that week's episode was broadcast from Strictly's primary home in Elstree Studios, London.*
* Unlike previous weeks, the Musicals Week special/Quarter-Final was broadcast on Friday 2nd December rather than its usual Saturday time, and subsequently its results show on Saturday; and the Semi-Final is due to be broadcast on Sunday 11th December rather than its usual Saturday time, with the results show on Monday 12th.
* Fleur & Vito were the second couple in Strictly history to get a perfect score of 40 for the Samba.
* Tony & Katya were the first couple in the show’s history to withdraw from the competition during the show’s broadcast, after Tony sustained a hamstring injury during his original performance in Week 8.