In the early series of Strictly Come Dancing each contestant who made it to the Final got to perform every dance style. The subsequent introduction of Speciality dances into the show meant that, from Series 8 onwards, the finalists would each have to skip at least one of the dance styles.

In this blog we will reveal the dance styles which have been skipped the most, and which have never been skipped.

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

Argentine Tango: Skipped by 16 Finalists

Pamela, Louis, Kimberley, Denise, Abbey, Mark, Georgia, Kellie, Gemma, Stacey, Ashley, Kelvin, Emma, HRVY, Jamie and Maisie

The Argentine Tango is known as one of the toughest dances to master, so it is not surprising that one in every three finalists have skipped this dance. Series 20 is the first year to have four finalists that have all performed an Argentine Tango, the highest scoring being Fleur & Vito who were awarded 38.

Waltz: Skipped by 13 Finalists

Matt, Jason, Kimberley, Danny, Joe M, Debbie, Ashley, Karim, Bill, HRVY, Jamie, Maisie and John

Unexpectedly, the Waltz has been skipped the most out of the five ballroom dance styles. Half of the male celebrity finalists since Series 7 (9 out of 18) have avoided performing this dance. All of this year’s Finalists have performed a Waltz on the show.

Rumba: Skipped by 12 Finalists

Louis, Kimberley, Dani, Susanna, Stacey, Joe S, Karim, Bill, Jamie, Maisie, Rose and Helen

The Rumba is the most skipped out of the five Latin dance styles. This dance was skipped by both Joe Sugg and Karim, and both of their partners (Dianne & Amy) have yet to perform a Rumba on the show.

In Series 20, it has been danced by all finalists with the exception of Helen & Gorka and was Hamza & Jowita’s second lowest scoring dance being awarded 25 by the judges.

Foxtrot: Skipped by 9 Finalists

Natalie, Alexandra, Kelvin, Bill, HRVY, Jamie, Maisie, John and Fleur

The Foxtrot has definitely become more skip-able in recent years, with none of the Series 18 finalists (Bill, HRVY, Jamie or Maisie) performing it. Indeed, this was a dance that Oti skipped in both of her back-to-back victories in 2019 and 2020. The highest score awarded to the three finalists who have danced a Foxtrot this Series went to Molly & Carlos in Week 7 who scored 35.

Samba: Skipped by 9 Finalists

Kara, Pamela, Denise, Jay, Katie, Ore, Emma, Bill and HRVY

The Samba has ‘only’ been skipped by nine finalists, however four of them went on to win their Series (Kara, Jay, Ore & Bill).

The Sambas danced by this year’s finalists have kept them all safe and out of the Bottom 2 despite this being the most dangerous dance in terms of eliminations. Molly & Carlos did well with their routine managing a score of 31 in Week 1 for this often challenging dance, and it will be interesting to see if Fleur & Vito can top their score of 39 when they perform their Samba again in the Final as their Judges’ Pick.

Paso Doble: Skipped by 6 Finalists

Harry, Dani, HRVY, Jamie, Maisie and Hamza

The Paso Doble is obviously a favourite of the male professional dancers as, since Series 7, only two of the 29 female finalists have chosen to skip this dance style. Molly & Carlos and Fleur & Vito danced their Pasos in the Semi-Final (along with Will and Nancy) scoring 39 and 35 respectively. Helen & Gorka performed their Paso much earlier on in Week 4 which perhaps partly explains their lower score of 29.

Salsa: Skipped by 6 Finalists

Jason, Sophie, Louise, Faye, Bill and Molly

Bill is the only Strictly Come Dancing champion not to have performed the Salsa since it’s introduction to the show in Series 4 (2006). If Molly were to win on Saturday night, she would join him.

Viennese Waltz: Skipped by 6 Finalists

Chelsee, Caroline, Bill, Jamie, Hamza and Molly

Pasha chose to skip the Viennese Waltz in two of the four times that he made the Final (with both Chelsee and Caroline). This series it proved a tricky performance for finalist Fleur, who with Vito, received her lowest score of 28 for this dance.

Tango: Skipped by 4 Finalists

Joe S, AJ, Fleur and Helen

The Tango has slightly fallen from favour over the last couple of years, with three female finalists (AJ, Fleur and Helen) deciding to skip it. Hamza and Molly have both performed Tangos this Series and achieved scores of 33 and 35 respectively.

Charleston: Skipped by 3 Finalists

Dani, Maisie and Rose

Hamza’s Semi-Final Charleston means that the record of every male finalist performing this dance style (since Series 7) remains intact.  Chris & Ola made one of Strictly’s greatest score improvements when they danced their Charleston again in the 2009 Final, scoring a perfect 50 (made possible by Darcey joining the judging panel) after they had been awarded a 34 for the dance in Week 11.

Quickstep: Skipped by 3 Finalists

Louis, Denise and HRVY

The Quickstep has become a firm favourite for the Strictly professional dancers, with HRVY the only finalist to skip it during the last ten series. Maybe its popularity is linked to its success – only 13.3% of all Quicksteps end up with a Bottom 2 placement making it one of the ‘safest’ routines to perform on the show.

American Smooth: Skipped by 2 Finalists

Frankie and Faye

For contestants who are capable ballroom dancers, the American Smooth is an excellent opportunity to produce a ‘crowd pleasing’ routine. It’s therefore quite surprising that two of the show’s most talented ballroom dancers did miss out on performing this particular style. This year’s four finalists have all performed an American Smooth on their way to the Final, with mixed success.

Cha Cha Cha: Skipped by 2 Finalists

Simon and AJ

Despite its reputation as a dance that is difficult to score highly with, only two finalists have ended up skipping the Cha Cha Cha. In Simon’s case, it was because he had already performed this dance style in a Christmas special. Of the Cha Chas by 2022 finalists, Hamza & Jowita’s scored the highest with 38 points.

Couple’s Choice: Skipped by 0 Finalists

The Couple’s Choice was first introduced to Strictly Come Dancing in Series 16. Generally, these routines receive high scores from the judges, and have a low chance of elimination; so it isn’t a surprise that none of the finalists have chosen to skip this style.

Will & Nancy were eliminated in this year’s Semi-Final with their 90s Manchester-themed Couple’s Choice routine sending Fleur & Vito into the Final but according to Craig and Shirley this particular elimination decision was one of the most difficult either have ever had to make. With the exception of Molly’s Grange Hill-themed routine which scored 30 and found her in the dance-off for the first of four times, Couple’s Choice dances for this year’s finalists have been high-scoring routines. It is not surprising therefore that three couples (Fleur & Vito, Hamza & Jowita and Helen & Gorka) will perform these routines again in the Final as their favourite from the series.

Jive: Skipped by 0 Finalists

The only dance style that no Strictly Come Dancing finalist has ended up skipping is the Jive! Despite this, there is one finalist who did not get to perform the dance. Natalie Gumede was scheduled to Jive to ‘Proud Mary’ in Week 7 of Series 11; however, she fainted during the dress rehearsal and was unable to perform the routine on the live show and was given a ‘bye’ into the next round of the competition.

Helen & Gorka will perform their Week 7 Jive again in this week’s Final as their Judges’ Pick, hoping to improve on their original score of 37.

‘Skipped’ Dances in Numbers

Our infographic below visually represents the number of each dance type ‘skipped’ by Strictly Finalists on their journey to the competition Final.