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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Tom Herbert

Strictly winners: Which stars and dancers have won the show over the years?

It's that time of the year again - Strictly Come Dancing is back with a host of new faces set to fight it out for the Glitterball trophy.

Mike Bushell, Catherine Tyldesley, David James, Chris Ramsey, Saffron Barker and Emma Barton are among the famous faces who will cha-cha-cha their way across the dance floor when the 17th series of the hit show returns in the autumn.

In the years since Strictly Come Dancing's launch, 15 celebrities have been crowned winners with Natasha Kaplinsky taking home the inaugural crown in 2004.

Here, we take a look at all of the show's winners since its inception in 2004.

2004 Natasha Kaplinsky and Brendan Cole

(BBC)

BBC newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky was the first ever winner of Strictly Come Dancing, way back in the summer of 2004.

She took home the inaugural Glitterball trophy along with dance partner Brendan Cole after only eight weeks of dancing.

2004 Jill Halfpenny and Darren Bennett

(BBC)

The second series of Strictly took place just months after the first in the autumn of 2004, setting a precident for later series.

Actress Jill Halfpenny, known for playing Kate Mitchell in Eastenders, scooped first prize along with partner Darren Bennett, with their jive becoming the first routine to score a perfect 40.

2005 Darren Gough and Lilia Kopylova

(BBC)

A male celebrity contestant won for the first time in 2005, when England cricketer Darren Gough was victorious alongside the Russian professional Lilia Kopylova.

Despite winning the pair never actually made it to the top of the leaderboard across the entire series, but were clearly popular with the public and still managed to beat off competition from Colin Jackson and Erin Boag and Zoë Ball and Ian Waite in the final.

2006 Mark Ramprakash and Karen Hardy

(BBC)

Series four saw the introduction of four new professional dancers in Flavia Cacace, James Jordan, Ola Jordan and Vincent Simone.

Another English cricketer took home the title when Mark Ramprakash won alongside Karen Hardy, making them the second pairing to score a perfect 40.

2007 Alesha Dixon and Matthew Cutler

(BBC)

Ex-Misteeq member Alesha Dixon won the fifth series of Strictly Come Dancing with the professional Matthew Cutler.

The pair were long-time favourites to win the show and received top marks from judges on a number of weeks; Dixon's time on the show preceeded her stint as a judge from 2009-2012.

2008 Tom Chambers and Camilla Dallerup

(BBC)

The longest series yet saw Holby City actor Tom Chambers take home the Glitterball trophy with partner Camilla Dallerup.

Despite scoring the lowest of the three finalists, Tom and Camilla saw off competition from Rachel Stevens and Lisa Snowdon to bag the victory.

This was also Arlene Phillips' final season as a judge.

2009 Chris Hollins and Ola Jordan

(BBC)

For the first time since 2004, the show was filmed from the Blackpool Tower Ballroom. Presenter Bruce Forsyth was forced to take a leave of absence because of illness and Ronnie Corbett was a surprise guest.

BBC Breakfast's Chris Hollins took home the trophy alongside Ola Jordan, seeing off tough competition from Hollyoaks' Ricky Whittle and Ali Bastian.

2010 Kara Tointon and Artem Chigvintsev

(BBC)

Professional dancer Artem won the series on his debut with Kara Tointon, who was known for playing Dawn Swann in Eastenders.

The pair received consistently high scores for the duration of the series, and went on to date before splitting in 2014.

Series eight was also notable in that at the age of 61, Pamela Stephenson was the oldest contestant to make it to the final.

2011 Harry Judd and Aliona Vilani

(BBC)

Alesha Dixon made her last appearance as a judge on this series before she was replaced by Darcey Bussell following her move to ITV's Britain's Got Talent.

McFly's Harry Judd won series 9 with professional dancer Aliona Vilani, beating Chelsee Healey and Jason Donovan in the final.

2012 Louis Smith and Flavia Cacace

(Georgie Gillard)

Series 10 was won by Olympic hero Louis Smith with his partner Flavia Cacace, with the athlete utilising all of his gymnastic strength in the routines.

Viewers loved him and he beat Kimberley Walsh and Denise van Outen in the final, which in itself was notable after Pasha Kovalev became the second male professional to reach two consecutive finals.

2013 Abbey Clancy and Aljaž Škorjanec

(BBC)

Series 11 was the last with Bruce Forsyth at the helm as main presenter, and the first in which a professional dancer reached three separate finals (Brendan Cole, if you're asking).

Abbey Clancy and Aljaž Škorjanec took home the trophy, with Susanna Reid and Natalie Gumede finishing second and third.

2014 Caroline Flack and Pasha Kovalev

(BBC)

Caroline Flack danced her way into the nations hearts on series 12 a year before Love Island catapulted her onto our TV screens every year.

And boy could she dance, becoming the first celebrity to achieve a perfect 40 score for all three of her final routines, helping her to the trophy ahead of Simon Webbe and Frankie Bridge.

2015 Jay McGuiness and Aliona Vilani

(BBC)

The Wanted member Jay McGuiness won the competition in 2015 with partner Aliona Vilani, despite the pair never achieving a perfect 40 throughout the competition.

They beat Kellie Bright and Georgia May Foote into second and third place, but despite winning the competition for a second time, just three days later Vilani announced she was leaving the show.

2016 Ore Oduba and Joanne Clifton

(BBC)

Ore Oduba wowed the judges in the final, scoring an incredible 39, 40 and 40 for his three dances - including his wonderful jive.

However, his time in the competition wasn't always as smooth after landing in the bottom two more than once - becoming the first winner to do so.

2017 Joe McFadden and Katya Jones

(BBC)

The first series since Bruce Forsyth's death in August that year saw Joe McFadden take home the Glitterball trophy with professional Katya Jones.

The pair won plaudits in the live final and finished ahead of Gemma Atkinson and Alexandra Burke.

2018 Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton

(PA)

Surprise winners Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton lifted the trophy ahead of Joe Sugg and Dianne Buswell, who were favourites.

Interestingly, they were the seventh competition winners to have never achieved a perfect score.

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