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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Niamh Spence

Strictly's Shirley Ballas reveals her favourite ever celebrity contestant

Strictly Come Dancing is in its 20th year since first hitting our screens in 2004. There have been stunning performances and out-of-this-world lifts and tricks, but equally, there's been stumbles, falls and some very odd moves ( Ed Balls we're looking at you!) over the years the BBC show has been on air.

Nearly 200 celebrities have stepped out on the Strictly dance floor, and this year's contestants are set to see who can samba, salsa and waltz their way to earning the Glitterball trophy this year.

As judges, Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke have seen their fair share of brilliant dancing and some not so brilliant too.

Now head judge Shirley Ballas has revealed her favourite dancers, and it's not all been winners!

Craig Revel Horwood, Anton Du Beke, Shirley Ballas and Motsi will return to Strictly as judges in 2022. (BBC)

Speaking to The Sun, 62-year-old Ballas revealed: "Anton Du Beke and Ann Widdecombe’s samba was just iconic. I also loved Ed Balls when he did Gangnam Style.

"I want people to understand that it’s not always the best dancer that delivers the entertainment factor, which is extremely important in this show. Yes, it’s great to have talent and be co-ordinated, but I love the journey for those who cannot dance.

"I loved Ann and Ed for their banter, and they gave it 100 per cent even when they were scoring low scores.”

Ed Balls had his fair share of hilarious Strictly routines. (BBC)

Shirley took over as head judge after replacing Len Goodman in 2017. With many years of dance training and competing, Shirley earned herself the nickname 'The Queen of Latin'.

Whilst the standard set by this year's celebs is yet to be seen, there's still bound to be plenty of 'banter' and 'entertainment factor'. Celebrities including Will Mellor, Ellie Simmonds, Kym Marsh and Helen Skelton have all put on their dancing shoes for this year's show.

This year will also see a new themed week, as dancers commemorate 100 years of the BBC with routines celebrating different shows and programmes aired on the BBC and danced to their iconic theme tunes. This will be the fourth theme week alongside Halloween, Musicals week and Blackpool.

Ann Widdecome and Anton Du Beke brought the entertainment factor (PA)
Shirley Ballas worried fans that she may miss the first Strictly show due to illness. (PA)

Concerns have been raised that head judge Shirley might have to miss the first show, due to testing positive for Covid. The star took to her social media to tell her followers that she is currently unwell, just a few days before Strictly is due to start filming on September 7.

Shirley shared a video while she was self isolating at home after testing positive for coronavirus. Speaking to the camera wearing a face mask, she said: "So, day three of my Covid, and cleaning the silver and staying busy because I can't sit still. Thank you all for your well-wishes, feeling a little bit better today.

"Hopefully it will clear in a couple of days and I hope everybody is having a really good time and I'm cleaning this one. Keeping busy."

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