Series 21

## Series Chronology

The twenty-first series of Strictly began on 23 September 2023, with a launch show on 16 September 2023.

Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman returned to present, with Janette Manrara returning to host *It Takes Two*, joined by Series 20 runner-up Fleur East, who replaced Rylan Clark-Neal as co-host.

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

The series was won by *Coronation Street* actress, Ellie Leach and her partner Vito Coppola.

## Professionals

In April 2023, the Strictly professional lineup was revealed, with all of last year's professionals returning except for Cameron Lombard.

## Couples

On 4th August 2023, Amanda Abbington, Angela Rippon, and Layton Williams were revealed as the first contestants to compete in the upcoming series, on *The One Show*.

## 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, Jessie Ware with a performance of her song, "Free Yourself", and a dance performance by Series 20 Champions, Hamza Yassin & Jowita Przystał.*

### Week 2

* *Featuring musical guest, Jorja Smith with a performance of her song, "Try Me".*

**Dance Off:** Les & Nancy, Nikita & Gorka

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

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

**Eliminated Couple**: Les & Nancy

### Week 3: Movie Week

* *Featuring musical guest, Madison Beer with a performance of her song, "Showed Me (How I Fell in Love with You)".*

**Dance Off:** Nikita & Gorka, Zara & Graziano

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

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

**Eliminated Couple**: Nikita & Gorka

### Week 4

* *Featuring musical guest, Beverley Knight with a performance of her song, "I'm on Fire".*

**Dance Off:** Eddie & Karen, Jody & Jowita

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

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

**Eliminated Couple**: Jody & Jowita

### Week 5

* *Featuring musical guests, Bastille with a performance of their song, "Pompeii".*
* Due to medical reasons, Amanda & Giovanni were unable to perform, having been due to dance a Cha-Cha-Cha to "Canned Heat" by Jamiroquai. The producers gave them a bye to the following week.

**Dance Off:** Eddie & Karen, Zara & Graziano

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

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

**Eliminated Couple**: Eddie & Karen

### Week 6: Halloween Week

* *Featuring musical guest, Rick Astley with a performance of his song, "Forever and More".*
* After having missed the previous week, Amanda Abbington withdrew from the competition.

**Dance Off:** Adam & Luba, Zara & Graziano

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

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

**Eliminated Couple**: Zara & Graziano

### Week 7

* *Featuring musical guest, Zara Larsson with a performance of her song, "On My Love".*

**Dance Off:** Adam & Luba, Angela R. & Kai

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

* Horwood: Angela R. & Kai
* Mabuse: Angela R. & Kai
* Du Beke: Angela R. & Kai
* Ballas: *did not vote, but would have saved Angela R. & Kai*

**Eliminated Couple**: Adam & Luba

### Week 8

* *Featuring musical guests, Andrea Bocelli & Virginia Bocelli with a performance of their song, "Hallelujah".*

**Dance Off:** Angela R. & Kai, Krishnan & Lauren

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

* Horwood: Angela R. & Kai
* Mabuse: Angela R. & Kai
* Du Beke: Angela R. & Kai
* Ballas: *did not vote, but would have saved Krishnan & Lauren*

**Eliminated Couple**: Krishnan & Lauren

### Week 9: Blackpool Week

* *Featuring musical guests, Madness with a performance of their song, "C'est La Vie".*

**Dance Off:** Angela R. & Kai, Bobby & Dianne

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

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

**Eliminated Couple**: Angela R. & Kai

### Week 10

* *Featuring musical guests, Texas with a performance of their song, "Inner Smile".*

**Dance Off:** Angela S. & Carlos, Layton & Nikita

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

* Horwood: Layton & Nikita
* Mabuse: Layton & Nikita
* Du Beke: Layton & Nikita
* Ballas: *did not vote, but would have saved Angela S. & Carlos*

**Eliminated Couple**: Angela S. & Carlos

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

* *Featuring musical guest, Joss Stone with a performance of her song, "This Time".*
* Due to sustaining a rib injury, Nigel & Katya withdrew from the competition, having been due to dance a Charleston to "Step in Time" - from *Mary Poppins*. As a result, there was no elimination this week and all scores carried over to the following week.

### Week 12: Semi-Final

* *Featuring musical guests, Take That with a performance of their song, "This Life".*

**Dance Off:** Annabel & Johannes, Bobby & Dianne

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

* Horwood: Annabel & Johannes
* Mabuse: Bobby & Dianne
* Du Beke: Bobby & Dianne
* Ballas: Bobby & Dianne

**Eliminated Couple**: Annabel & Johannes

### Week 13: Final

* *The Final involves each couple dancing three times; the Judges' Pick, the Showdance and Couple's Favourite Dance. Judges scores are just a guideline, with public vote alone deciding the Strictly Champions 2023.*
* *Featuring a group dance starring the Strictly cast of 2023, and musical guest, Cher, with a performance of her song, "DJ Play a Christmas Song".*

**Strictly Champions**: Ellie & Vito