Strictly THE BEST

Only two of the show’s champion couples ranks among the judges’ all-time top 10

THE dancers who have most impressed the Strictly judges over the years have been unveiled - and the top-scoring couple are not among the show’s list of champions.

Over 18 seasons of the hit BBC show, celebrities such as Bill Bailey, Kelvin Fletcher, and Stacey Dooley have won the nation’s hearts through their performances on the dance floor.

But famously, the public often disagrees with the show’s judges over which couple are most impressive and who is most deserving of being “saved” to dance again the following week.

This has thrown up a number of surprise winners over the years, who may not have necessarily been the judges’ picks.

For example, last year Bill Bailey and his dance partner Oti Mabuse won the Glitter Ball. But based purely on the judges’ scores over the whole season, Bill and Oti would have only finished in third.

Instead, Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas, and Motsi Mabuse gave the most points to Maisie Smith and Gorka Márquez - a total of 328 points.

Finalists HRVY and Janette Manrara received the second-highest points tally from the judges (323) followed by Bill and Oti (301).

So, which couple have most impressed the judges over 18 seasons of Strictly Come Dancing?

Some seasons of the show have run longer than others, and season 18 only had three judges rather than the usual four, so it’s not possible to compare overall points tallies.

However, taking the average scores per judge per dance awarded to each couple over the years reveals that the pair who most impressed were Pussycat Dolls singer Ashley Roberts and her partner, dance professional Pasha Kovalev.

Ashley and Pasha dazzled in season 16, but were ultimately beaten by journalist Stacey Dooley and professional Kevin Clifton in the final after the public vote.

Over 16 dances, Ashley and Pasha scored an impressive average of 9.23 points from each judge per dance while Stacey and Kevin had an average of 8.50.

The next highest scoring couple is ex-coronation Street actor Natalie Gumede and professional Artem Chigvintsev - runners up to Abbey Clancy and Aljaž Škorjanec in season 11 - with an average score of 9.22.

In third place, according to average scores doled out by each judge, is Danny Mac and Oti Mabuse, who racked up an average of 9.16 points in season 14.

But that score didn’t prevent the former Hollyoaks actor and his partner from being beaten to the Glitter Ball by Ore Oduba and Joanne Clifton.

In fact, among the judges’ top 10 dance pairings, only two couples feature who have actually won the show.

They are season five champions Alesha Dixon and Matthew Cutler, who scored an average of 9.13 points per dance; and Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse, who won season 17 with an average score of 9.11.

The lowest-scoring Strictly champions are Chris Hollins and Ola Jordan, who lifted the Glitter Ball at the end of season seven with an average score of 7.74.

Meanwhile, the lowest-scoring couple in Strictly history are Quentin Wilson and professional Hazel Newberry.

Quentin was dubbed, “Britain’s worst dancer” for his Cha Cha Cha, which received just eight points overall from the judges, the lowest ever score for a single dance.

Unsurprisingly, he did not get the chance to dance on the Strictly stage again and left the show with an average of just 2.00 points per judge per dance.