We were sent a brilliant message this week by fellow “Strictly Statistician” James (Instagram: @drross365) who pointed out that after last Saturday’s show, the perfect 10 paddle had been awarded 992 times. This means we’re only eight away from seeing the 1000th being awarded!

We’d never thought about this, so jumped onto the StrictlyDB dance database and quickly counted up the 10s awarded by each judge. Of course, James was right and of course we got very excited! Who will get the 1000th ten???? We also agreed with James’ comment: “In a way it would be quite fitting if the one thousandth 10 was awarded in the ‘BBC 100’ episode!”

 

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So, what do the Strictly stats indicate about the likelihood of this possibility? Whilst it would certainly be A-MAZ-ING for the 1000th ten to be awarded during the BBC 100 Celebration show, never before have the judges handed out eight 10s in a Week 5 show. To date, Series 8 (2010) and Series 19 (2021) are joint top for this stat, each seeing four tens awarded during Week 5. That said, we only need to see a perfect 40 score from two couples on Saturday night for this major milestone to be met, so it’s possible and would make it an extra special night. What a way to say “Happy 100th Birthday” to the BBC!

Thanks so much to James for his message and remember to check his Instagram for loads more brilliant Strictly facts & stats (@drross365) – including this post where he showed the ten counts up until the end of Series 19 – to which he added the 9 awarded so far this Series to reach 992.

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With James, we really look forward to discovering who awards and who receives the 1000th Strictly 10!