We probably all know the meanest Strictly judge without looking at any stats – but who is the most hardworking, who is the most generous, who is least likely to be mean and who awards more 10s than 9s…you might be surprised!

Note: Data correct up to Series 20 Week 7 (5 Nov 2022). Guest judge data (61 dances) is not included here with the exception of guest judging scores from Darcey and Anton as both went on to become regular judges.

Craig Revel Horwood

Judge Series 1-, 2004-

• Craig is the most hardworking Strictly judge having judged an astonishing 2,288 dances (329 more than the next busiest judge Bruno) – true dance dedication!
• He’s also the meanest, awarding 10 1s which is ten times more than Arlene (the only other judge to ever award a 1) with 9% of his scores being 3 or less
• Together with Len, he’s the slowest judge to award a 10, having watched 116 dances before giving his first 10 to Jill & Darren for their Jive (Series 2 Final)
• Most Likely Score: 8 (awarded 457 times)
• Famous for: being the hardest judge to get a 10 from (only 85 of his 2288 scores have been 10 – 3.7%)

Arlene Phillips

Judge Series 1-6, 2004-2008

• Arlene judged 517 dances between Series 1 and Series 6 and is the second meanest judge after Craig having awarded 6 scores of 1 and 2 (most judges avoid using these)
• She’s the first ever judge to award a 10 on the show; this went to Natasha and Brendan for their Samba in Week 5 of Series 1 (and apart from 10s awarded by Darcey and Anton when guest judging this is also the quickest award of a 10 by a regular judge)
• Most Likely Score: 9 (awarded 101 times)
• Famous for: being the only judge who has awarded more 9s (101) than 8s (99), so possibly not so mean after all!

Len Goodman

Judge Series 1-14, 2004-2016

• Len judged an impressive 1570 dances making him the 3rd most hardworking judge on the show
• He was Head Judge until Shirley replaced him in 2017
• Together with Craig, he’s the slowest judge to award a 10, having watched 116 dances before giving his first 10 to the same dance as Craig, Jill & Darren’s Jive (Series 2 Final)
• 10% of his scores were 10s (only harder to get a 10 from Craig and Arlene)
• Most Likely Score: 8 (awarded 391 times)
• Famous for: his scoring discrepancies with Craig – on 6 occasions Len scored a dance 5 points higher than Craig, 5 being the largest scoring difference for a single dance on the show (Jason & Kylie’s Rumba, Christopher & Hannah’s Tango, Fiona & Brendan’s Rumba, Gary & Karen’s Cha Cha Cha,  Scott & Natalie’s Rumba and Mark & Iveta’s Cha Cha Cha)

Bruno Tonioli

Judge Series 1- 17, 2004-2019

• Bruno judged 1959 dances, making him the second busiest judge after Craig
• Bruno watched 112 dances before awarding his first 10 in the Final of Series 2 which he gave to Denise and Ian for their Quickstep (which was just before Craig and Len awarded their first tens to Jill and Darren, which Bruno and Arlene also awarded 10 making it the first Strictly 40)
• Most Likely Score: 8 (awarded 416 times)
• Famous for: being the most generous of the early judges on the show as the % of 10s he awarded was 14.9% of all his scores (a higher proportion of 10s than Craig, Arlene, Len, Alesha and Darcey)

Alesha Dixon

Judge Series 7-9, 2009-2011

• Alesha judged for 3 series, awarding scores for 388 dances in total after participating as a contestant in Series 5 (2007) and winning with her partner Matthew Cutler
• She watched 64 dances before awarding her first 10 to Ricky & Natalie for their Viennese Waltz (Series 7 Week 5)
• Of the 57 10s she awarded, 13 were to dances for which hers was the only 10 scored
• Most Likely Score: 8 (awarded 87 times)
• Famous for: on occasions scoring imperfect dances a 10 which were marked down for their mistakes by other judges (a generosity sometimes attributed to a lack of technical training and appreciation)

Darcey Bussell

Guest Judge Series 7, 2009 Quarter-Final, Semi-Final and Final; Judge Series 10-16, 2012-2018

• Like Anton, Darcey appeared first as a guest judge before joining as a regular judge; her ballet experience definitely brought a new perspective to the panel
• She judged 981 dances, making her the busiest of the female Strictly judges to date (Shirley is currently on 715 dances)
• She was quick to award her first 10, appearing as a guest judge first in the Series 7 Quarter Final and awarding her first 10 to Ricky & Natalie that night for their Cha Cha Cha
• 13.4% of the scores she awarded were 10s making her the 4th hardest judge to get a 10 from
• Most Likely Score: 8 (awarded 214 times)
• Famous for: joint with Anton, being the least mean judge having never awarded a score below 4

Shirley Ballas

Head Judge Series 15-, 2017-

• Shirley replaced Len as Head Judge in 2017 and has judged 715 dances to date
• She watched 54 dances before awarding her first 10 to Alexandra and Gorka for their Jive in Week 4 of Series 15
• To date, Shirley has awarded 133 10s which is a massive 18.6% of all her scores making her the most generous Strictly judge so far (clearly it really is never too early for a 10 from Shirley)
• Most Likely Score: 8 (awarded 146 times)
• Famous for: Shirley is one of only two judges who has awarded more perfect 10 scores (133) than near perfect 9 scores (112)…maybe she misplaced that 9 paddle.

Motsi Mabuse

Series 17-, 2019-

• In 2019, Motsi replaced Darcey on the panel and so far she has judged 408 dances
• She watched 56 dances before awarding her first 10 which went to Karim and Amy in Series 17 for their Week 4 Tango
• After Shirley, Motsi is the second most generous judge Strictly has seen as a considerable 17.9% of her scores have been 10s (perhaps Shirley and Motsi’s generosity is contributing to accusations that there are too many 10s these days – or maybe standards have dramatically improved since the Show started…opinions below please)
• Most Likely Score: 8 (awarded 99 times)
• Famous for: Like Shirley, Motsi has awarded more 10s (73) than 9s (61)

Anton Du Beke

Guest Judge Series 18, 2020 Weeks 4 & 5; Judge Series 19-, 2021-

• Although he’s a newbie in the judging role on Strictly, with only 230 dances scored to date, there’s no way he lacks experience for the role being the highest performing Pro on the show so far (with 133 dances performed from Series 1 2004 to Series 18 2020)
• He seems to be gaining a reputation for somewhat generous scoring and it’s true that like Darcey he’s never awarded a score below 4 (perhaps he was too much on the receiving end of scores like these himself to dish them out)
• 13.9% of his scores are 10s, so he is more generous than Craig, Arlene, Len and Darcey but less generous than Bruno, Alesha, Shirley and Motsi (in fact he’s slap bang in the middle here)
• Most Likely Score: 8 (awarded 62 times)
• Famous for: Being the judge who has himself received more low scores between 1-3 (38 in total) than he has ever given others (not a single 1-3 score awarded by Anton to date!)

The data

Photo credits

• Bruno Tonioli – Wikimedia Commons
• Len Goodman – Wikimedia Commons
• Arlene Philips – The Edge Foundation
• Craig Revel-Horwood – Wikimedia Commons
• Alesha Dixon – Wikimedia Commons
• Darcy Bussell – Wikimedia Commons
• Shirley Ballas – Strictly Come Dancing Fan Wiki
• Motsi Mabuse – Wikimedia Commons
• Anton Du Beke – Wikimedia Commons