The recent award of the 1000th ten on Strictly to Fleur & Vito from Motsi for their sensational Samba in Week 8 of Series 20 encouraged us to look back on some of the landmark tens that have awarded as part of the first one thousand on the show.

We share them here and hope you enjoy watching them again as much as we have. Let us know in the Comments below if you have your own favourite Strictly 10!

Big thank you to fellow “Strictly Statistician” James (Instagram: @drross365) for contributing this article to the StrictlyDB Blog.

Craig’s First Ten: Jill & Darren’s Jive

• Series 2 (2004), Week 8 Final: 11 Dec 2004
• Jive to ‘I’m Still Standing’ by Elton John
• Score 40 (10,10,10,10)
• 5th ten awarded on the show

(No video found of the original Jive – 😢 – can you help us?)

Craig’s first ten was awarded in the 117th routine that he adjudicated. This routine also saw the first instance of ‘a ten from Len’, and the first to receive a perfect score of 40. Due to Craig’s placement on the judging panel, this technically means that Craig issued a ten on the show before Len did!

This was a truly great Jive from Jill & Darren, but sadly there is no video footage of the full routine available. The video above shows the partnership reprising their routine four years on, and does include some brief clips from the 2004 Final, including an impassive Craig awarding his ten.

The 100th Ten: Tom & Camilla’s Foxtrot (from Bruno)

• Series 6, Week 12 Quarter-Final: 6th December 2008
• Foxtrot to ‘Here You Come Again’ by Dolly Parton
• Score 39 (9,10,10,10)
• 100th ten awarded on the show

The one-hundredth ten on Strictly was awarded in the five hundredth routine scored on the show. Tom & Camilla were able to celebrate by picking up the Glitterball trophy two weeks later.

The First 50: Ali & Brian’s American Smooth

• Series 7 (2009), Week 13 Semi-Final: 12th December 2009
• American Smooth to ‘Come Dance With Me’ by Frank Sinatra
• Score 50 (10,10,10,10,10)
• 150th to 154th tens awarded on the show

In total 36 routines have been marked by five judges (22 in Series 7 when Darcey was a guest judge and 14 in Series 12 when Donny Osmond joined the panel in Movie Week); just three of these went on to receive a perfect score of 50. The first to do so was this lovely American Smooth from Ali & Brian.

The only ‘Donny Ten’: Frankie & Kevin’s Paso Doble

• Series 12 (2014), Week 3 Movie Week: 11th October 2014
• Paso Doble to ‘America’ from West Side Story
• Score 45 (8,9,10,9,9)
• 410th ten awarded on the show

Dancing with the Stars Series 9 winner, Donny Osmond appeared as a guest judge for Movie Week in Series 12. His scoring on the night was more generous than the rest of the panel (for example, awarding Scott & Joanne’s ‘Under the Sea’ Samba a 7), and his only ten was awarded to Frankie & Kevin’s Paso Doble. This was just the second dance ever performed in Week 3 to receive a ten (the first being Louisa and Vincent’s 2006 Jive).

The 500th Ten: Kellie & Kevin’s American Smooth (from Bruno)

• Series 13 (2015), Week 12 Semi-Final: 12th December 2015
• American Smooth to ‘Let’s Face the Music and Dance’ by Irving Berlin
• Score 39 (9,10,10,10)
• 500th ten awarded on the show

The five-hundredth ten on Strictly occurred in the 1,441st routine scored on the show. At the time, it was the 171st awarded by Bruno, who went on to issue 291 tens in total (the highest number from a single judge to date).

Shirley’s First Ten: Alexandra & Gorka’s Jive

• Series 15 (2017), Week 4: 14th October 2017
• Jive to ‘Proud Mary’ by Tina Turner
• Score 39 (9,10,10,10)
• 592nd ten awarded on the show

Shirley became Head Judge in 2017, and issued her first ten in the 55th routine that she adjudicated. This was the first dance to score a ten in Series 15, and it went on to receive four more tens when performed again in the Final.

Motsi’s First Ten: Karim & Amy’s Tango

• Series 17 (2019), Week 4: 12th October 2019
• Tango to ‘Paradise’ by George Ezra
• Score 38 (9,10,9,10)
• 770th ten awarded on the show

Motsi joined the judging panel in Series 17, and her first ten was awarded in the 56th routine that she adjudicated. This was also the first dance of Karim’s to score a ten, and his series total of 29 tens is more than any other male celebrity who has appeared on the show.

The only ‘Alfonso Ten’: Saffron & AJ’s Foxtrot

• Series 17 (2019), Week 5: 19th October 2019
• Foxtrot to ‘New York, New York’ by Frank Sinatra
• Score 38 (9,10,9,10)
• 774th ten awarded on the show

With Bruno flying back and forth across the Atlantic to judge Dancing With the Stars, he was allowed to take a week off from Strictly in Week 5 of both Series 16 and 17. Taking his place was DWTS Series 19 winner, Alfonso Ribeiro, also known as ‘Carlton’ from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Alfonso scored 24 routines in total, and awarded his only ten for the last of these; a stylish Foxtrot from Saffron & AJ.

Anton’s First Ten (Received): Emma & Anton’s American Smooth (from Shirley)

• Series 17 (2019), Week 9 Blackpool: 16th November 2019
• American Smooth to ‘Let’s Face The Music And Dance’ by Ella Fitzgerald
• Score 37 (8,9,10,10)
• 784th ten awarded on the show

Having appeared in every series of Strictly, Anton finally received his first ten in his 118th routine. Appropriately it was with a Ballroom dance performed at Blackpool, ‘the home of Ballroom’. This dance helped propel Emma & Anton all the way to the Final.

Anton’s First Ten (Awarded): Clara & Aljaz’s Charleston

• Series 18 (2020), Week 4: 14th November 2020
• Charleston to ‘Baby Face’ by Julie Andrew
• Score 29 (9,10,10)
• 849th ten awarded on the show

Having already been eliminated in Week 2, Anton made his initial appearance on the judging panel as a guest judge in Week 4 of Series 18. He gave out a ten in that first show, in just the 9th routine that he adjudicated. Clara & Aljaz closed the show with this glorious Charleston, that also received a ten from Shirley.

The First Same-Sex Couple Ten: John & Johannes’ Paso Doble

• Series 19 (2021), Week 3 Movie Week: 9th October 2021
• Paso Doble to ‘He’s A Pirate’ from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
• Score 39 (9,10,10,10)
• 895th ten awarded on the show

Having taken part in Strictly’s first same-sex Pro Dance in 2019 (with Graziano), two years later Johannes was also the recipient of the first ten that was awarded to a same-sex partnership, dancing with John. This ‘Pirates’ inspired Paso is also one of only seven routines to receive a ten in Week 3.

The 1000th Ten: Fleur & Vito’s Samba (from Motsi)

• Series 20 (2022), Week 8: 12th November 2022
• Samba to ‘Hot, Hot, Hot’ by Arrow
• Score 39 (9,10,10,10)
• 1000th ten awarded on the show

The landmark one-thousandth ten on Strictly was awarded in the 2,302nd routine scored on the show. On a night that also saw tens awarded to three other couples, this spicy Samba deserved to top the leaderboard, and earned its place in Strictly history.

Photo credits: BBC embeddable video thumbnails from YouTube