This week Aljaž Škorjanec will become just the fourth professional dancer on Strictly (after Brendan Cole, Anton Du Beke and Karen Hauer) to reach the milestone of performing one hundred routines on the show.

In celebration of this accomplishment, let’s take a look back at some of Aljaž’s most memorable routines.

Routine #1: The first impression

• Celebrity: Abbey Clancy
• When: Series 11 (2013), Week 1
• Dance: Waltz, 32 (8,8,8,8)

What a debut! Aljaž started his time on the show by becoming just the second professional dancer to receive an eight from Craig for their first Strictly routine. The only other pros who have achieved this are Natalie (with Ricky Whittle), Kai (with AJ Odudu) and Jowita (with Hamza Yassin).

Routine #8: First tens

• Celebrity: Abbey Clancy
• When: Series 11 (2013), Week 8
• Dance: Waltz, 37 (7,10,10,10)

Aljaž received his first tens for this Quickstep performed with Abbey at the Tower ballroom at Blackpool. Craig however, was not a fan, saying there was too much gapping, Abbey’s chin was too far down, and her frame was too loose. This remains the only Strictly routine to receive scores of one seven and three tens.

Routine #22: Game for a laugh

• Celebrity: Alison Hammond
• When: Series 12 (2014), Week 6
• Dance: Waltz, 26 (5,7,7,7)

You may wonder why this middling ‘26’ scoring routine, (which led to Aljaž’s second ever dance-off appearance) makes my top ten list.

While performing in the dance-off, Alison’s sleeve momentarily completely covers Aljaž’s face; and once the routine had been completed Alison suffered an uncontrollable fit of the giggles, which is sure to make you smile!

Routine #29: Fun over Frights

• Celebrity: Helen George
• When: Series 13 (2015), Week 6
• Dance: Samba, 34 (8,9,8,9)

Aljaž is not the biggest fan of Halloween; probably in part as it led to three dance-off appearances (with Abbey, Alison and Daisy), and another two occasions where he was bottom of the leaderboard (with Kate and Sara).

Aljaž admitted that he prefers to choreograph fun, rather than frightening, routines at Halloween, and this hair raising dance with Helen is a great example of that.

Routine #35: ‘Thirty’ dancing

• Celebrity: Daisy Lowe
• When: Series 14 (2016), Week 1
• Dance: Waltz, 32 (7,8,9,8)

After converting all three judge and five judge performances to a ‘40 point’ scale; 62 routines danced by Aljaž have received a score of 30 or higher. This is a total only bettered on Strictly by Kevin & Giovanni (both have a total of 76).

This year, Tasha is on course to become the 13th member of the ‘thirty dancing’ club, in which to join, a contestant must receive a score of 30+ for every routine. Aljaž’s first partner to achieve this feat was Daisy Lowe in 2016. They started their campaign with a Waltz which topped the Week 1 leaderboard; and it is one of only three routines that received a nine from Len in Week 1.

Routine #51 Smooth operator

• Celebrity: Gemma Atkinson
• When: Series 15 (2017), Week 9
• Dance: Waltz, 38 (9,9,10,10)

Twelve of Aljaž’s 54 tens on show have been awarded when dancing an American Smooth.

Aljaž reached his second Final when partnered with Gemma in 2017. Their series highlight was this American Smooth that was performed in Blackpool, and danced again in the Final four weeks later.

Routine #70 Fantastic Mr Foxtrot

• Celebrity: Emma Weymouth
• When: Series 17 (2019), Week 3
• Dance: Foxtrot, 28 (7,7,7,7)

Aljaž has stated that his favourite dance style is the Foxtrot, so it’s perhaps surprising that he has yet to score a ten with any of his partners when performing this style.

When thinking back to Emma’s time on the show, this Foxtrot is the routine that comes to mind. It is beautifully elegant, as you would expect, and I was surprised to see that it only received a score of 28, being certain that it had received eights and nines from the judging panel.

Routine #78 Almost perfect

• Celebrity: Clara Amfo
• When: Series 18 (2020), Week 4
• Dance: Charleston, 29 (9,10,10)

Aljaž has performed eight routines, (with five different partners) that were just one point away from perfection. No prizes for guessing which judge awarded the nine on each occasion!

Clara turned out to be a contestant who ended up having one standout routine on the show, and this was the week where everything ‘clicked’. This Charleston is great fun, and it provided Aljaž with his first tens in nearly three years.

Routine #82 From ‘worst’ to ‘first’

• Celebrity: Sara Davies
• When: Series 19 (2021), Week 2
• Dance: Foxtrot, 34 (8,8,9,9)

One week before this Foxtrot, Aljaž received a score of seventeen for a Cha Cha Cha. This is his lowest ever total, and is the one time he received a dreaded three from Craig.

This underwhelming performance meant that Sara was the clear favourite for the first elimination of Series 19; however what followed was a ‘Lazarus’ style recovery, with this fantastic Foxtrot lifting Sara from ‘worst’ to ‘first’ on the weekly leaderboard.

Routine #98 A third ‘perfect Skor’

• Celebrity: Tasha Ghouri
• When: Series 22 (2024), Week 10
• Dance: American Smooth, 40 (10,10,10,10)

Returning to the show after a two year absence, I am sure Aljaž couldn’t believe his luck when he found out that he would be dancing with Tasha.

This maximum score was the first for Aljaž in eleven years, and to date, this partnership has received an incredible eighteen tens. Should they reach the Final, and score an average of 38 in their remaining routines; they would become the partnership with the highest average score in Strictly history (a record currently held by Ashley Roberts & Pasha).

Photo credits: BBC embeddable video thumbnails from YouTube