In this blog we take a look back at the celebrities who have both danced on the show, and had other partnerships dance to one of their songs. When combining the highest score that each celebrity achieved when competing, with the highest scoring dance performed to one of their songs, which celebrity ends up as Strictly Come Dancing’s Top of the Pops?

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

Joint 10th: Anastacia, 64 points

• Louisa & Vincent
• Series 4, Week 8: 25th November 2006
• Paso Doble
• Left Outside Alone by Anastacia
• Score: 34 (8,8,9,9)

• Anastacia & Gorka
• Series 14, Week 5: 22nd October 2016
• Quickstep
• My Kind Of Town by Frank Sinatra
• Score: 30 (8,8,9,9)

Anastacia is one of three Americans who make it into the top ten. Although partnered with Brendan in Series 14, her highest score actually came in the week when Gorka had to deputise for Brendan after picking up a nasty lung infection.

Joint 10th: Faye Tozer, 64 points

• Faye & Giovanni
• Series 16, Week 11: 1st December 2018
• Charleston
• The Lonely Goatherd from ‘The Sound of Music’
• Score: 40 (10,10,10,10)

• Catherine & Johannes
• Series 17, Week 6: 26th October 2019
• Cha Cha Cha
• Scared Of The Dark by Steps
• Score: 24 (6,6,5,7)

Despite having 14 top five singles, the only Steps song that has been danced to on Strictly is the number 37 hit ‘Scared of the Dark’; which came in the Halloween episode that saw Catherine & Johannes eliminated. A score of only 24 for this routine means that, despite achieving four maximum scores herself, Faye only just scrapes into the Top Ten.

Joint 10th: Nicky Byrne, 64 points

• Christopher & Hannah
• Series 1, Week 4: 5th June 2004
• Foxtrot
• Flying Without Wings by Westlife
• Score: 28 (6,7,8,7)

(No video found of this dance – 😢 – can you help us?)

• Nicky & Karen
• Series 10, Week 8: 24th November 2012
• Charleston
• Doop by Doop
• Score: 36 (9,9,9,9)

Series 1 Runner-up, Christopher Parker, is rarely mentioned in any ‘top scoring’ lists, however his Week 4 Foxtrot is not only his best score, but remains the highest scoring dance (out of three) performed to a Westlife track. After a sixth-place finish in Series 10, Nicky went on to co-present the Irish version of ‘Dancing With The Stars’ for five series, from 2017 to 2022.

9th: Will Young, 65 points

• Holly & Brendan
• Series 11, Week 7: 12th November 2011
• Rumba
• Leave Right Now by Will Young
• Score: 34 (8,8,9,9)

• Will & Karen
• Series 14, Week 3: 8th October 2016
• Salsa
• Jai Ho (You Are My Destiny) by The Pussycat Dolls
• Score: 31 (8,8,7,8)

Will makes it onto the list despite only dancing three routines himself, and having just two partnerships dance to one of his songs. His highest score as a dancer was performed to a Pussycat Dolls track, and unsurprisingly this will not be the last time they are mentioned in this countdown.

8th: Michelle Williams, 70 points

• Michelle & Brendan
• Series 8, Week 6: 6th November 2010
• Waltz
• Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx
• Score: 30 (6,8,8,8)

• Fleur & Vito
• Series 20, Week 9: 19th November 2022
• Couple’s Choice
• Destiny’s Child Megamix by Destiny’s Child
• Score 40 (10,10,10,10)

After achieving a high score of 30 in Series 8, Fleur & Vito’s perfect score twelve years later enabled Michelle to make her way into the Top Ten.

Joint 6th: Aston Merrygold, 71 points

• Aston & Janette
• Series 15, Week 6: 28th October 2017
• Paso Doble
• Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
• Score: 38 (9,10,9,10)

• Kelvin & Oti
• Series 17, Week 5: 19th October 2019
• Cha Cha Cha
• Get Stupid by Aston Merrygold
• Score: 33 (8,9,9,9)

No partnership have yet danced to a JLS track on Strictly. Despite this, Kelvin & Oti’s score of 33 to Aston’s solo record makes him the highest-ranking male celebrity to appear on this list.

Joint 6th: Rachel Stevens, 71 points

• Rachel & Vincent
• Series 6, Week 10: 22nd November 2008
• Foxtrot
• (They Long To Be) Close To You by Matt Monro
• Score: 40 (10,10,10,10)

• Georgia & Gorka
• Series 13, Week 4: 17th October 2015
• Quickstep
• Reach by S Club 7
• Score: 31 (7,7,9,8)

Series 6 Runner-up Rachel received two perfect scores as a dancer; and the score of 31 obtained by Georgia & Giovanni allowed Rachel to ‘reach’ a place just outside of the Top Five.

5th: Emma Bunton, 72 points

• Emma & Darren
• Series 4, Week 9: 2nd December 2006
• Paso Doble
• Explosive by Bond
• Score: 37 (9,9,9,10)

• Chelsee & Pasha
• Series 9, Week 8: 19th November 2011
• Samba
• Spice Up Your Life by The Spice Girls
• Score: 35 (8,9,9,9)

No less than seven partnerships have danced to an Emma Bunton song (six to the Spice Girls, plus one as a solo artist). Four of these routines were Sambas, including this effort from Chelsee & Pasha performed at Wembley arena.

4th: Pixie Lott, 73 points

• Holly & Artem
• Series 9, Week 4: 22nd October 2011
• Viennese Waltz
• Cry Me Out by Pixie Lott
• Score: 30 (7,7,8,8)

• Pixie & Trent
• Series 12, Week 3: 11th October 2014
• Quickstep
• Be Our Guest by Angela Lansbury & Jerry Orbach from ‘Beauty and the Beast’
• Score: 43 (7,9,9,9,9)

Pixie has the same combined score of 73 as the next two other celebrities, however as the only one to benefit from a fifth judge (Donny Osmond) awarding her a mark, I have Pixie in fourth place in this countdown.

Joint 2nd: Alesha Dixon, 73 points

• Alesha & Matthew
• Series 5, Week 8: 24th November 2007
• Cha Cha Cha
• Crazy In Love by Beyoncé
• Score: 39 (9,10,10,10)

• Anita & Gleb
• Series 13, Week 7: 7th November 2015
• Jive
• The Boy Does Nothing by Alesha Dixon
• Score: 34 (8,8,9,9)

Alesha is currently the only person to have the ‘triple crown’ of dancing on the show (Series 5 Champion), having a partnership dance to one of their songs (Series 13) and being part of the judging panel (Series 7 to 9). With Anton having released an album in 2017, perhaps one day he will get to match Alesha’s achievement!

Joint 2nd: Ashley Roberts, 73 points

• Ashley & Pasha
• Series 16, Week 9: 17th November 2018
• Jive
• Shake A Tail Feather by Ray Charles and the Blues Brothers from ‘The Blues Brothers’
• Score: 40 (10,10,10,10)

• Emma & Anton
• Series 17, Week 8: 9th November 2019
• Couple’s Choice
• Right Now by The Pussycat Dolls
• Score: 33 (8,9,8,8)

With five scores of 40, Ashley holds the record for the most perfect routines ever performed on Strictly. Perhaps it’s somewhat surprising that Anton is the pro dancer to have the highest scoring routine to a Pussycat Dolls song!

1st: Kimberley Walsh, 74 points

• Christine & Matthew
• Series 6, Week 9: 15th November 2008
• Waltz
• See The Day by Girls Aloud
• Score: 34 (8,8,9,9)

• Kimberley & Pasha
• Series 10, Week 10: 8th December 2012
• Tango & Cha Cha Fusion
• It’s Raining Men by The Weather Girls
• Score: 40 (10,10,10,10)

Maintaining her spot at the top of the charts for a tenth consecutive year is Series 10 Runner-up Kimberley Walsh! The 34 points that Christine & Matthew achieved for their Waltz in Series 6 was their highest score of the series. Four years later, Kimberley went on to receive three perfect scores, the first of them being the only ‘dance fusion’ performance to earn a score of 40.

Honourable mentions…

Fleur East, 62 points: 22 (Song) & 40 (Dancer)
Holly Valance, 61 points: 23 (Song) & 38 (Dancer)
Alexandra Burke, 59 points: 19 (Song) & 40 (Dancer)
Lulu, 59 points: 29 (Dancer) & 30 (Song)
Heather Small, 50 points: 27 (Dancer) & 23 (Song)

Surprisingly, no Strictly partnerships have performed to songs by Blue, McFly, The Saturdays or The Wanted; meaning that Simon Webbe, Lee Ryan, Harry Judd, Tom Fletcher, Frankie Bridge, Mollie King, Jay McGuiness & Max George all fail to qualify. The same applies to some other solo artists who have danced on the show, such as Jason Donovan & Peter Andre.