2010 - Series 8

Strictly Come Dancing returned for its eighth series on BBC One with a red carpet launch show on 11 September 2010, and the competitive live shows began on 1 October. According to BARB data, this series was the consistently highest-rated of the show to date, peaking at 14.28 million viewers. Alesha Dixon, Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood, and Bruno Tonioli all returned as judges.

25*

Competitive shows

11.07*

Av. viewers (m)

15

Couples

123

Total scored dances

3,604

Total points scored

7.33

Av. judge score (10)

29.30*

Av. total score (40)

51

Total 10s awarded

3*

Perfect scores (40)

Kara & Artem

Winning couple

Couple	Celebrity	Pro	Dances	Av score (10)	Av score (40)	10s	Perfect scores	Total pts	Pos
Ann & Anton	Ann Widdecombe	Anton du Beke	10	4.05	16.20	0	0	162	6th
Felicity & Vincent	Felicity Kendal	Vincent Simone	8	6.78	27.13	0	0	217	8th
Gavin & Katya	Gavin Henson	Katya Virshilas	12	6.67	26.67	0	0	320	5th
Goldie & Kristina	Goldie	Kristina Rihanoff	2	5.75	23.00	0	0	46	14th
Jimi & Flavia	Jimi Mistry	Flavia Cacace	6	7.08	28.33	0	0	170	10th
Kara & Artem	Kara Tointon	Artem Chigvintsev	16	8.92	35.69	21	0	571	1st
Matt & Aliona	Matt Baker	Aliona Vilani	16	8.56	34.25	7	0	548	2nd
Michelle & Brendan	Michelle Williams	Brendan Cole Ian Waite	7	6.57	26.29	0	0	184	9th
Pamela & James	Pamela Stephenson	James Jordan	14	8.77	35.07	17	3	491	3rd
Patsy & Robin	Patsy Kensit	Robin Windsor	9	7.00	28.00	0	0	252	7th
Paul & Ola	Paul Daniels	Ola Jordan	3	4.42	17.67	0	0	53	13th
Peter & Erin	Peter Shilton	Erin Boag	4	5.06	20.25	0	0	81	12th
Scott & Natalie	Scott Maslen	Natalie Lowe	12	8.38	33.50	6	0	402	4th
Tina & Jared	Tina O'Brien	Jared Murillo	4	6.69	26.75	0	0	107	11th

Couples & progress

Couple	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12
Kara & Artem	Cha Cha Cha 30	Foxtrot 32	Quickstep 31	Charleston 32	Paso Doble 37	Salsa 36	Argentine Tango 38	American Smooth 35	Jive 34	Tango 38	Rumba 39 Swing-a-thon Viennese waltz 39	American Smooth 37 Waltz 38 Showdance 36 Rumba 39
Matt & Aliona	Cha Cha Cha 31	Foxtrot 31	Quickstep 31	Charleston 35	Argentine Tango 34	Viennese Waltz 35	Rumba 35	Samba 38	American Smooth 33	Jive 35	Tango 38 Swing-a-thon Salsa 28	Viennese waltz 37 Paso Doble 35 Showdance 34 Samba 38
Pamela & James	Waltz 31	Salsa 32	Rumba 35	Tango 34	Jive 27	Foxtrot 33	Cha Cha Cha 32	American Smooth 37	Charleston 38	Viennese Waltz 40	Quickstep 40 Swing-a-thon Paso Doble 35	Showdance 37 Viennese Waltz 40
Gavin & Katya	Waltz 28	Salsa 19	Rumba 22	Tango 23	Paso Doble 26	Cha Cha Cha 29	Quickstep 33	American Smooth 27	Jive 22	Foxtrot 33	Viennese waltz 31 Swing-a-thon Samba 27
Scott & Natalie	Waltz 29	Salsa 32	Quickstep 34	Tango 35	Viennese Waltz 39	Rumba 28	Jive 39	Samba 32	American Smooth 31	Paso Doble 35	Charleston 35 Swing-a-thon Argentine tango 33
Ann & Anton	Waltz 17	Salsa 12	Quickstep 18	Tango 21	Paso Doble 16	Charleston 17	Foxtrot 20	Samba 13	Rumba 14	American Smooth 14
Patsy & Robin	Waltz 22	Salsa 28	Quickstep 24	Charleston 28	Jive 31	Cha Cha Cha 29	Viennese Waltz 32	Samba 28	Argentine tango 30
Felicity & Vincent	Cha Cha Cha 23	Foxtrot 25	Rumba 29	Tango 29	Viennese Waltz 26	Paso Doble 29	Salsa 26	American Smooth 30
Michelle & Brendan	Cha Cha Cha 24	Foxtrot 26	Rumba 24		Jive 29	Waltz 30	Paso Doble 24
Jimi & Flavia	Cha Cha Cha 26	Foxtrot 30	Rumba 25	Charleston 27	Paso Doble 30	Quickstep 32
Tina & Jared	Cha Cha Cha 24	Did Not Dance Foxtrot 26		Charleston 29	Argentine Tango 28
Michelle & Ian				Tango 27
Peter & Erin	Waltz 21	Salsa 17	Quickstep 26	Charleston 17
Paul & Ola	Cha Cha Cha 16	Foxtrot 21	Rumba 16
Goldie & Kristina	Cha Cha Cha 20	Foxtrot 26

Dance Type	Total Dances	Av Score (40)	10s	Perfect Scores
Cha Cha Cha	11	25.82	0	0
Foxtrot	11	27.55	0	0
Rumba	11	27.82	6	0
Salsa	9	25.56	0	0
Quickstep	9	29.89	4	1
Charleston	9	28.67	2	0
Paso Doble	9	29.67	1	0
Viennese Waltz	9	35.44	15	2
Waltz	8	27.00	2	0
Tango	8	30.63	4	0
American Smooth	8	30.50	7	0
Jive	7	31.00	3	0
Samba	6	29.33	4	0
Argentine Tango	5	32.60	2	0
Showdance	3	35.67	1	-

Distribution & average score

Strictly Come Dancing
Series 8

Presented by	Bruce Forsyth Tess Daly Claudia Winkleman
Judges	Alesha Dixon Len Goodman Craig Revel Horwood Bruno Tonioli
Celebrity winner	Kara Tointon
Professional winner	Artem Chigvintsev

No. of episodes	26
Release
Original network	BBC One
Original release	11 September (2010-09-11) (launch show) 2 October 2010 (2010-10-02) – 18 December 2010 (2010-12-18)
Series chronology
← Previous Series 7 Next → Series 9

2010 - Series 8 facts and stats

Series 8 has the 2nd highest average weekly viewing figures of 11.07 million, behind S15 with 11.14 million
Tweaks to the show’s format continued in S8 as not one but two couples were eliminated by combined judge score and public vote in the Semi-Final, plus we saw the addition of a Final night elimination to reduce from 3 down to 2 final couples during the show
The dance-off was ditched; in Series 8 and 9; the lowest placed couple on the combined leaderboard (judges’ scores and public vote) was eliminated each week, from Week 2 onwards
Week 5 saw the first ever Halloween Week show; Pamela & James performed the first Halloween routine, a Jive to ‘Devil Gate Drive’ by Suzi Quatro which scored 27
The legendary ‘a-thon’ moniker was coined, with a Week 11 Swing-a-thon ‘won’ by Kara & Artem who took the maximum 5 points
The only perfect final night dance was performed by Pamela & James; their ‘double-40’ Viennese Waltz to ‘Unchained Melody’ by The Righteous Brothers still saw them eliminated from the Final leaving Kara & Artem and Matt & Aliona to fight it out
This year saw Strictly’s oldest finalist; at 79, Angela Rippon is the oldest ever contestant, Bill Bailey is the oldest winner at 55 but the oldest finalist ever is Pamela, who was 61 when she danced in the S8 Final

Last updated on July 12 2025