We’ve had four weeks of Strictly Come Dancing 2024 — and the 20th anniversary season of the BBC One dance show has arguably been even more eventful than ever.
This year’s series has seen one star perform a history-making Bollywood routine while another scored a phenomenal 39 for their week four Charleston. However, it hasn’t been without its controversies.
Wynne Evans went viral for the wrong reasons on Saturday when viewers shared clips on social media of his professional partner, Katya Jones, seemingly pushing his hand away from her waist.
Jones soon denied she felt uncomfortable, saying Evans had been “portrayed as someone he is not”. He also responded to the criticism and said he was “heartbroken” about the furore the incident had caused but insisted it was a joke.
The controversy follows the BBC’s investigation into a former professional dancer on the show, Giovanni Pernice. Amanda Abbington, his dance partner on the 2023 series, had complained about the Italian.
It was soon announced he would not be appearing on this year’s series. Pernice’s exit was followed by that of another professional, Graziano Di Prima, who left amid allegations about his behaviour towards his 2023 partner, Zara McDermott.
But who are the 2024 Strictly contestants and their dance partners — and how have they fared so far?
Here’s everything you need to know.
Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe
Montell Douglas, 38, is dancing with Johannes Radebe, 37.
Douglas is a distinguished British athlete who made history by becoming the first British woman to compete in the Summer and Winter Olympics.
Her athletic career began with track and field, where she set a British record in the 100 metres with a time of 11.05 seconds at the 2008 British Championships. This broke a 27-year record.
Douglas represented Great Britain at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the 100m. She was part of the relay team that competed at various international events, including the World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
Transitioning to bobsleigh in 2016, she quickly made her mark by achieving top 10 finishes in World Cup competitions and competing at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. In addition to her athletic accomplishments, Douglas advocates women's empowerment in sports, serving as a coach and motivational speaker.
Douglas is also well-known to fans of another gruelling TV show: BBC One’s Gladiators reboot, on which she’s better known as Fire.
Douglas and Rabede have had a slow but promising start to the 2024 series, with plenty of room (and time) left for that all-important Strictly journey.
The duo finished in fourth on the week four leaderboard with 33 points for their Viennese Waltz to Nobody Gets Me by SZA.
Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez
Dr Punam Krishan has been partnered with Gorka Márquez — and the duo made history in Movie Week when they performed Strictly’s first ever full Bollywood routine.
Dr Krishan, 41, is the BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Morning Live resident GP. In addition to being a licensed NHS physician, Dr Krishan writes children's books and has more projects in the works. She also frequently appears on TV, radio, and in national newspapers as a broadcaster covering health-related issues — and is continuing to work for the NHS while training for Strictly.
Márquez, 34, is a Spanish dancer in his seventh year on Strictly Come Dancing. He finished second with Alexandra Burke in 2017 and Helen Skelton in 2022.
After making history in Movie Week, the pressure got to Krishan on Saturday and her jive to a Lizzo track failed to impress the judges. She scored only 20 points, leaving her and Marquez bottom of the leaderboard. Thankfully, the duo won enough votes from viewers to avoid the dreaded dance-off.
Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin
Sam Quek is with Nikita Kuzmin.
Quek, 35, is a former professional field hockey player, who earned more than 120 international caps for the England and Great Britain women's teams. Quek was part of the Team GB squad that won a gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics and has also collected silver medals from both the European and Commonwealth Games.
After retiring from competitive hockey following the 2016 Olympics, she transitioned to a career in television, gaining fame as a presenter on various sports shows. Notably, she became the first female captain on the long-running quiz show A Question of Sport in 2021 and took part in the 2016 series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!
Kuzmin, 26, is a Ukrainian dancer who joined Strictly in 2021. He reached the final with actor and singer Layton Williams in 2023.
Quek and Kuzmin have managed solidly mid-table finishes on the Strictly leaderboard every week so far. Sam, a self-confessed “tomboy”, struggled to embrace her sensual side for Saturday night’s samba but the pair still scored 30 — a perfectly acceptable total for this early in the competition.
Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola
Sarah Hadland is dancing with Vito Coppola — and the pair have already emerged as ones to watch in the competition.
Hadland, 53, has a long history in theatre, television, and film. Her most well-known roles are as Stevie in the Bafta-nominated sitcom Miranda and as an original cast member of the multi-award-winning BBC series Horrible Histories. Because of her starring performance in the comedy series The Job Lot on ITV, Hadland received a nomination for an RTS Award for Best Comedy Performance. Hadland's significant stage credits include Noises Off on the West End. She has appeared in multiple films, including the James Bond epic Quantum of Solace.
In 2022, Italian dancer Coppola, 31, made his Strictly debut and reached the final with Fleur East.
While Hadland’s foxtrot — inspired by her relationship with her daughter — left her and Coppola fourth from bottom on Saturday night, they have largely impressed the judges. It’s worth noting that the competition was incredibly close at the weekend, with only seven points between Hadland and second place on the leaderboard.
Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec
Tasha Ghouri is partnered with Aljaž Škorjanec — and the pair have so far proven themselves tough to beat in the ballroom.
Ghouri, 26, is best-known for her 2022 appearance on Love Island and since then, she has accumulated more than two million social media followers.
The model and TV star is staunchly committed to educating others about the deaf community. She was born deaf and received her first cochlear implant just before her fifth birthday. This helps to improve her hearing by electrically stimulating the auditory nerve.
Slovenian dancer Škorjanec, 34, was absent from the show in 2023, as he took a break after his daughter Lyra Rose was born.
He and Ghouri are favourites to win the series and with good reason; they’ve continuously topped the leaderboard and landed the first 10s of the series for their Coachella-themed charleston in week four.
Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones
Toyah Willcox was partnered with Neil Jones.
Willcox, 66, has performed on stage and screen for more than 50 years. Her hit songs include It's A Mystery, I Want to Be Free, and Brave New World. Wilcox has released 13 top 40 singles, 25 albums, and two novels, and has appeared in more than 40 stage plays and 20 feature films. She has also presented several television shows.
Dancer Jones, 42, has been part of the Strictly family since 2016.
Unfortunately, their Strictly journey did not last very wrong. After controversially surviving the first dance-off in week two, they left after losing the second to Paul Merson and Karen Hauer. That week, they had finished bottom of the leaderboard with 15 points.
Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell
Chris McCausland has already cemented himself as a fan favourite in this year’s series.
McCausland, 47, has been a comedian for more than 20 years. He has appeared on major comedy programmes such as Have I Got News for You, Would I Lie to You?, QI, The Last Leg, and 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.
The Liverpudlian has performed at and hosted Live at the Apollo, and hosts The Chris McCausland Show, an ITV Saturday morning conversation show.
McCausland lost his sight at the age of 22 due to a hereditary condition called retinitis pigmentosa. He is Strictly’s first ever blind contestant.
He’s paired with Dianne Buswell, 35, who joined the show in 2018. She is dating Joe Sugg, with whom she reached the final that year.
So far in the competition, McCausland has established himself as one to watch. In week four, he and Buswell pulled off a series of gravity-defying lifts, scoring them an admirable 30.
Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas
Jamie Borthwick is with Michelle Tsiakkas.
Barking-born actor Borthwick, 30, became well-known for his role as Jay Brown/Mitchell in the BBC drama EastEnders, which he joined in 2006. He won the 2008 British Soap Award for Best Dramatic Performance from a Young Actor.He also won the 2023 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special with dance partner Nancy Xu — but has said the full series is nothing like the one-off episode.
Meanwhile, his Cypriot-English dance partner Tsiakkas, 29, joined Strictly in 2022, but this is the first time she’s had a partner.
Along with Hadland, Ghouri and McCausland, Borthwick has also emerged as an early favourite to make the final. Having won plaudits for his rumba — a notoriously difficult dance for male celebrities to master — he excelled with the salsa in week four, finishing second on the leaderboard with 34 points.
JB Gill and Amy Dowden
JB Gill is with Amy Dowden, who is this year making an emotional return to the ballroom.
Gill, 37, gained fame as a member of the British boyband JLS, who have sold more than 10 million records worldwide, with five number one hits. They have also won numerous awards. Away from the music industry, Gill has become an accomplished farmer, and was the main host of the Bafta-nominated television shows Down On The Farm on CBeebies, and On The Farm on Channel 5.
His Welsh dancer partner Dowden, 34 — who joined the series in 2017 — was a finalist in 2019 alongside TV host Karim Zeroual. She was forced to miss last year’s series after being diagnosed with breast cancer aged 32. Dowden documented her cancer journey in the BBC documentary Strictly Amy: Cancer and Me, broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in August 2023.
Gill is the only celebrity to have beaten Ghouri to the top of the leaderboard, having done so back in week one. His and Dowden’s week four rumba scored them 30.
Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk
Nick Knowles was partnered with Luba Mushtuk but his injury-plagued Strictly journey ended with an unceremonious exit in week four.
Knowles, 62, has been the face of the BBC's Bafta-winning DIY SOS for the past 24 years. He has collaborated with Channel 5 on several travel-themed shows, such as Nick Knowles in South America, The Mighty Mississippi, and Into the Grand Canyon.
His Russian dance partner Mushtuk, 34, joined Strictly in 2018.
Sadly, Knowles’ brief stint on Strictly was overshadowed by numerous injuries.
He just about made it to the ballroom in week two after being left with his arm in a sling — and was unable to perform in the following Saturday after a knee injury.
Knowles and Mushtuk returned to the competition in week four — but were ousted after losing the dance-off.
Paul Merson and Karen Hauer
Paul Merson is dancing with Karen Hauer, and what he lacks in dancing skills, he more than makes up for in enthusiasm.
Former footballer Merson, 56, made his Arsenal debut at 17. He won the PFA Young Player of the Year award in 1989 when the Gunners won the old First Division. He made 423 appearances for the London club between 1985 and 1997, scoring 99 goals and winning all domestic titles and the European Cup Winners' Cup. He also won 21 England caps, scoring three goals. He later played for Portsmouth, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough, and Walsall. He became Walsall’s player-manager in 2004-06. Merson, who has suffered from alcohol, drug and gambling addiction, is a Sky Sports football pundit and commentator.
Hauer, 42, is the longest-serving professional dancer on Strictly, having joined in 2012.
By his admission, Merson isn’t a natural dancer but it’s clear he’s been having a ball. He and Hauer have struggled to pick up points from the judges, and their high score is currently week four’s 32. They avoided an early exit in week three by winning the dance-off.
Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał
Pete Wicks is with Jowita Przystał.
Essex-born Wicks, 36, made his television debut on the Bafta-winning ITV programme The Only Way is Essex in 2015. Wicks co-hosts the critically acclaimed podcast Staying Relevant, which has received more than five million downloads. He has also appeared on several awards shows and the 2022 and 2024 series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins on Channel 4.
Meanwhile, Poland’s Przystał, 30, joined Strictly as a professional in 2021.
She and Wicks’s 29 points in week four put them eighth on the leaderboard — a stark improvement for the The Only Way Is Essex star, who has often lingered right at the bottom.
Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu
Shayne Ward is dancing with Nancy Xu.
Ward, 39, is an English singer and actor. Following his win on the X Factor's second series in 2005, his track That's My Goal reached the top of the UK charts.
Ward has also acted in several feature films and musicals, such as the West End production of Rock of Ages. He has also appeared on Coronation Street. Ward is the main character on Channel 5's crime thriller series The Good Ship Murder.
Chinese professional dancer Xu, 30, joined Strictly in 2019.
While the pair have impressed the judges, they found themselves in the dance-off in week four after failing to win over viewers. The pair won, sending Knowles and Mushtuk home.
Tom Dean and Nadiya Bychkova
Nobody wants to leave Strictly first but somebody has to.
This year, that fate befell Tom Dean and his partner Nadiya Bychkova.
Dean, 24, created history at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by becoming the first British man to win a gold medal in the men's 200-metre freestyle swimming. He won another gold in the men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay.
Dean was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to swimming.
He was England’s most decorated athlete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with seven medals (one gold and six silvers). The Londoner won his third gold medal for Team GB in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Ukrainian dancer Bychkova, 35, joined the series in 2017.
The pair surprisingly found themselves first booted out, despite having shown promise on the dancefloor. The duo had controversially lost the dance-off to Willcox and Jones, despite being 13 points ahead of them in the live show.
Wynne Evans and Katya Jones
Wynne Evans is partnered with Katya Jones.
Welshman Evans, 52, is a presenter, broadcaster, and opera singer, best known for the Go.Compare car insurance adverts.During his 25-year career, he has performed in more than 200 concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall; had two number one classical music CDs; and served as a principal at most of the world's major opera houses. Wynne hosted radio broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM and currently hosts a regular show on BBC Radio Wales.
His partner, Russia’s Jones, 35, has participated in eight editions of Strictly. She and Nicola Adams were the first same-sex competitors in 2020 — but the pair were forced to pull out of the show after Jones contracted Covid-19.
Despite their recent controversy, the pair enjoyed have enjoyed success and were joint-second with 34 points in week four.
