Since its inception in 2004, Strictly Come Dancing has been on our screens every year. Not only are more and more people getting interested in the show, the quality of the dancing has improved every year.
This year’s edition is no different as the celebrities on the Strictly Come Dancing 2018 betting site compete in what is expected to be one of the best ever series.
Throughout the show’s 14-year run on our screens there have been some enjoyable series and some not-so enjoyable series. However, there are some series which won’t be forgotten any time soon.
Series 1 (2004)
When people look through the history of a show which has gone on as long as Strictly, the majority of people believe that nothing can beat the original season. Although the dancing competition is one of the most popular shows on British television at the moment, the BBC were not as optimistic about the potential of the show, only spending £20 on the set and acquiring a handful of celebrities.
Despite the low set cost and limited number of celebs, the show was a major hit as news presenter Natasha Kaplinsky blew everyone away with her natural talent on the dance floor with dancing partner Brendan Cole.
Series 8 (2010)
After seven very successful series on the TV, the Strictly Come Dancing set went under a major overhaul in time for the 8thseries in order to attract more viewers. The most notable change was the removal of the backstage room and the addition of the tower above the dancefloor.
Contestants were now able to watch their competitors perform and be in the same room as the live studios audience as their scores were revealed. The set revamp worked as Series 8 was the most popular series of the show at the time.
The series was tightly contested between former EastEnders actress Kara Tointon and television presenter Matt Baker, with Tointon ending up being crowned the winner. The two celebrities were neck and neck every week, with both of them regularly getting the top score. In the end it was top series scorer Kara Tointon who ended up as the series winner.
Series 14 (2016)
Series 14 was Len Goodman’s final series as head judge. But despite this, the 2016 edition of the show was filled with some fantastic and iconic dancing as well as some shocking headlines and scandals.
Throughout the entirety of the series, it was a tightly contested battle between Louise Redknapp, Danny Mac, and Ore Oduba with all three of them trying to out-do one another every week. All three ended up reaching the final, with presenter Ore Oduba ending up victorious.
Although viewers were treated to some great dancing over the 13 weeks, there were a couple of scandals which made the headlines.
The biggest scandal came early on when Melvin Odoom and Tameka Empson were voted off the show in the first two rounds, leading to a heated debate around whether the voting system had racist undertones. Singer Will Young also quit early on in the series for “personal reasons”.
Overall, it was a very exciting series for the viewers.
Series 15 (2017)
Following Len’s departure from the judging panel in Series 14, the ‘Queen of Latin’ Shirley Ballas was chosen as his replacement, and her first series was as competitive as Len’s last. Similar to Series 14, this season also saw a tightly contested three-way battle, this time between Joe McFadden, Debbie McGee, and Alexandra Burke. Each celebrity recorded over 500 points and recorded at least one ‘40’ score.
Although former X-Factor winner Alexandra Burke managed to break a Strictly record by scoring the most ‘10s’ in the history of the show with 32, it was Joe McFadden who ended up winning the competition.
The most shocking moment of the series was the departure of JLS singer Aston at the halfway mark. After a strong start to the series, the singer was one of the favourites to win the entire thing. However, a disappointing Viennese Waltz dance in Week 7 led to his elimination to the shock of the audience.
Series 10 (2012)
Arguably the most popular series in the show’s history. After a sensational summer for Great Britain at the Olympics, many people were interested to see how Olympic athletes Victoria Pendleton and Louis Smith could do on the dance floor.
However, controversy surrounded the show before it had even started as it was reported that Kimberley Walsh, Denise van Outen and Dani Harmer all had previous dance experience.
Despite the past dancing experience of some of the celebrity contestants, it was Olympic artistic gymnast Louis Smith who ended up winning the competition. Even though Smith didn’t score as highly as Denise van Outen and Kimberley Walsh, his gymnastic moves on the dancefloor ended up impressing the judges and the voters.
This series was also the second most-watched in the shows history until Series 14 in 2016. During its two and a half month spell on our television screens, Strictly averaged 10.8 million viewers each episode, with a 40.3% share.
The final live show was the most watched episode of the season with an estimated 13.37 million people watching, and almost 50% of the possible TV audience tuning into the show.