During her seven Series in the role of head judge, is it true that Shirley awards a ten earlier than the other judges? Our previous research from 2022 showed her then to be the most generous judge with a 10 paddle – but is this still true today, and if not, who has overtaken her as Strictly’s most magnanimous judge?
Who awards the ‘first’ ten of a Series is determined – at least partly – by the order of the judges’ seats where more than one ten is awarded for a dance, so here we’ll look at the first ten, or tens where a dance receives more than one perfect score.
In 5 of the 7 Series, Shirley has been either the first – or one of the first with other judges – to award a 10, so she definitely does go early. Usually this is in consensus with at least one other judge – but on two occasions Shirley has gone solo in showing her 10 paddle. In 2018, she awarded HRVY & Janette a 10 for their Salsa in Week 4 (and then went on to give two more that night to Bill & Oti and Clara & Aljaž– who also scored 10 from Anton). Then, last night she surprised us all (including Eddie & Karen) by giving their Couple’s Choice dance her first 10 when the other 3 judges awarded it an 8. Darcey and Motsi, the other judges who have awarded the first solo 10 in a Series, each did so on a single occasion.
On one of the two occasions where Shirley was not one of the first, she was only not first by one dance as Motsi awarded Rhys & Nancy a 10 for their Couple’s Choice in 2019 and then immediately after John & Johannes received three 10s for their Paso – one of which was of course from Shirley.
Though it may never be too early for a 10 from Shirley, she is no longer the most generous Strictly judge in terms of 10s awarded, but she comes a very close second. A significant 19.2% of the 811 dances she has judged (156) received a 10 from her (more than received a 9 and almost as many as received an 8). The title of most generous judge is currently held by Motsi; she just edges past Shirley now with 20% of the 504 dances she has judged (101) receiving a 10 from her.
Series 15 (2017): First Ten – Alexandra & Gorka
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- When: Week 4
- Dance: Jive to ‘Proud Mary’ by Tina Turner
- Score: 39 (9 – Craig, 10 – Darcey, 10 – Shirley, 10 – Bruno
- Did Shirley Go Early? Yes – along with Darcey and Bruno
Series 16 (2018): First Ten – Danny & Amy
- When: Week 5
- Dance: Jive to ‘Flip, Flop and Fly’ by Ellis Hall
- Score: 37 (9 – Craig, 10 – Darcey, 9 – Shirley, 9 – Bruno)
- Did Shirley Go Early? No – this time it was Darcey
Series 17 (2019): First Ten – Kelvin & Oti
- When: Week 3 Movie Week
- Dance: Charleston to ‘Trip A Little Light Fantastic’ by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman from ‘Mary Poppins Returns’
- Score: 38 (9 – Craig, 9 – Motsi, 10 – Shirley, 10 – Bruno)
- Did Shirley Go Early? Yes – as did Bruno
Series 18 (2020): First Ten – HRVY & Janette
- When: Week 4
- Dance: Salsa to ‘Dynamite’ by BTS
- Score: 27 (8 – Craig, 10 – Shirley, 9 – Anton)
- Did Shirley Go Early? Yes – she also awarded 2 other 10s later that night to Bill & Oti and Clara & Aljaž, who also received a 10 from Anton for their Charleston
Series 19 (2021): First Ten – Rhys & Nancy (by one dance)
- When: Week 3 Movie Week
- Dance: Couple’s Choice to Spider-Man from ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’
- Score: 37 (9 – Craig, 10 – Motsi, 9 – Shirley, 9 – Anton)
- Did Shirley Go Early? No Motsi did – but only by one dance as John & Johannes’ Paso Doble, which was danced next, received three 10s from Motsi, Shirley and Anton
Series 20 (2022): First Ten – Tyler & Dianne
- When: Week 3 Movie Week
- Dance: Charleston to Flash, Bang, Wallop by Tommy Steele from ‘Half a Sixpence’
- Score: 38 (9 – Craig, 10 – Motsi, 10 – Shirley, 9 – Anton)
- Did Shirley Go Early? Yes – together with Motsi
Series 21 (2023): First Ten – Eddie & Karen
- When: Week 3 Movie Week
- Dance: Couple’s Choice to Men in Black by Will Smith from ‘Men in Black’
- Score: 34 (8 – Craig, 8 – Motsi, 10 – Shirley, 8 – Anton)
- Did Shirley Go Early? Yes
Photo credits
- Shirley Ballas – Strictly Come Dancing Fan Wiki
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Very interesting article Liv. In my mind, I have always thought that female celebrities are more likely to get off to a good start to the series, so it’s interesting that the ‘first 10’ has gone to a male celebrity in each of the last six years.
I also noticed that all of these ‘10’s’ went to Latin of Speciality dances. The last ‘first 10’ to be awarded for a Ballroom routine was Natalie & Artem’s Viennese Waltz in series 11.
Yes I noticed the male : female celebrity imbalance too. Of the 11 ‘first tens’ awarded to the seven routines above, it’s also interesting that 9 were awarded by female judges (Shirley: 5, Darcey: 2, Motsi: 2) and only 2 by male judges (Bruno: 2).
So in recent Series at least female judges tend to award their first ’10’ to male celebrities, dancing either a Latin or Specialty dance. It would be good to look at the overall picture for first tens awarded since Series 1, as I think you are right that female celebrities might have got more of the earlier first tens, Thanks for reading.