The 21st series of Strictly Come Dancing sashayed on to the BBC dancefloor on Saturday 23rd September and the next 13 weeks will provide plenty of thrills, spills and outrageous costumes as the 15 celebrities battle it out to get their hands on the famous Glitterball Trophy.

The popular show is a part of the Saturday night TV furniture in the run up to Christmas and over 6.5m viewers tuned in to watch the opening show of 2023 presented, as always, by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkelman.

Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas, and Anton Du Beke return as the four judges who will run the rule over the dancers each week, handing out a score for each performance on a scale of one to 10.

Actor Nigel Harman threw down the gauntlet with a score of 32 in Week One, and he was the only competitor to break the 30-point mark, although it was an impressive opening outing for most of the celebrities.

Harman is 7/2 second favourite to win this year's competition and looks to have a decent shot of taking the Glitterball Trophy off last year's winner, Hamza Yassin.

Bobby Brazier is the favourite currently at 9/4, Angela Scanlon is available at 6/1 and Ellie Leach 13/2.

What	Strictly Come Dancing series 21
Where	BBC Ballroom, Elstree Studios, London
When	Saturday 23rd September to December 16th 2023
How to watch	BBC One, BBC Two & BBC iPlayer
Odds	Bobby Brazier 9/4, Nigel Harman 7/2, Angela Scanlon 6/1, Ellie Leach 13/2, Annabel Croft 8/1, Layton Williams 10/1

Hamza Yassin - 2022

The Animal Park, Let's Go For A Walk and Countryfile host had never had any dance lessons before taking part, but soon became the bookmakers' favourite.

"Words can't describe how I feel" said Hamza, who thanked his dance partner Jowita Przystal and the viewers who voted for them.

He beat Molly Rainford, Fleur East and Helen Skelton to the coveted prize.

The 32-year-old was known for his daring lifts during series 20 and ended it by lifting the glitterball trophy in Saturday's live final on BBC One.

After the three advisory scores were given by the judges, Hamza and Jowita were actually bottom on 113 points. But it was the public vote that decided who took the title for 2022. 

Rose Ayling-Ellis - 2021

EastEnders star Rose Ayling-Ellis became the first deaf contestant to win BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing after a series of inspirational performances.

She and her professional partner Giovanni Pernice were presented with the glitterball trophy after performing her Couple's Choice routine again, which saw her dance with Pernice without music for 20 seconds as a tribute to the deaf community, and which has widely been acknowledged as Strictly's greatest ever performance.

Shirley Ballas described her as "an inspirational young lady", and she received a perfect score of 40 from the judges for her winning routine, to see off the challenges of John Waite and AJ Odudo in the final.

Bill Bailey - 2020

Comedian Bill Bailey walked away with the Glitterball Trophy in 2020 but it was no laughing matter for the performer who became the oldest winner of the BBC show.

The 55-year-old shared his triumph with partner Oti Mabuse, the first Strictly dancer to win for two years in a row, beating off EastEnders' Maisie Smith and singer HRVY in the grand final.

Actor Joe McFadden had been Strictly's previous oldest winner, having won in 2017 at the age of 42, and Bailey became the 11th male winner of the competition.

Kelvin Fletcher - 2019

Fletcher was a last-minute arrival to this 2019 competition but the actor made the most of it as he danced his way to victory with professional partner Oti Mabuse.

The Emmerdale star was brought in to replace Made In Chelsea's Jamie Laing, and he quickly got into his stride with some eye-catching performances.

Their Grand Final included a samba from the beginning of the series, a rumba from week four and a spectacular showdance, and the routines were enough to hold off strong competition from fellow finalists Karim Zeroual and Emma Barton.

Stacey Dooley - 2018

Documentary maker Stacey Dooley and dance partner Kevin Clifton were crowned the winners of the 16th series in a final which also featured Joe Sugg, Faye Tozer and Ashley Roberts.

The victory came as a huge relief for professional dancer Clifton, who had previously come up short in four finals.

The pair were popular winners, but there was also huge support for Sugg who commands a hefty number of subscribers to his YouTube channel.

Year	Winner	Runners-up
2004	Natasha Kaplinsky	Christopher Parker
2004	Jill Halfpenny	Denise Lewis
2005	Darren Gough	Colin Jackson
2006	Mark Ramprakash	Matt Dawson
2007	Alesha Dixon	Matt D'Angelo
2008	Tom Chambers	Rachel Stevens
2009	Chris Hollins	Ricky Whittle
2010	Kara Tointon	Matt Baker
2011	Harry Judd	Chelsee Healey
2012	Louis Smith	Denise van Outen, Kimberley Walsh
2013	Abbey Clancy	Natalie Gumede,  Susanna Reid
2014	Caroline Flack	Frankie Bridge,  Simon Webbe
2015	Jay McGuinness	Georgia May Foote, Kellie Bright
2016	Ore Oduba	Danny Mac,  Louise Redknapp
2017	Joe McFadden	Alexandra Burke,  Debbie McGee,  Gemma Atkinson
2018	Stacey Dooley	Ashley Roberts, Faye Tozer, Joe Sugg
2019	Kelvin Fletcher	Emma Barton,  Karim Zeroual
2020	Bill Bailey	HRVY, Maise Smith,  Jamie Laing
2021	Rose Ayling-Ellis	John Waite, AJ Odudo
2022	Hamza Yassin	Fleur East, Helen Skelton, Molly Rainford