Every year, Strictly Come Dancing fans meet a whole new roster of contestants, but they also look forward to the return of their favourite professional dancers.
While the pros have a strong fanbase of their own, we only see a fraction of the work that stars from Gorka Marquez to Karen Hauer do on the show.
Behind the scenes, they take part in a gruelling training schedule with their partners, which can take up to 14 hours a day, and also choreograph the routines themselves.
While the BBC has never confirmed each professional dancer’s salary, it has been widely reported that each one is paid a flat fee of between £35,000 to £50,000 to appear on the show.
However, each dancer gets several opportunities to top this up, on the Strictly Come Dancing: The Professionals tour as well as in stage shows, musicals and theatre productions.
Many of the professionals take part in P&O cruise tours, which can reportedly earn as much as £90,000 in just 12 weeks.
See the full list of Strictly contestants here and look back on the most memorable moments in the show’s history here.
