The curtain is about to be raised on another series of Strictly Come Dancing.
A year after Rose-Ayling Ellis triumphed in the 2021 final – finally bagging long-serving Giovanni Pernice his first ever Strictly win – 15 brand new celebs will be battling it out in the next few weeks in the hope of lifting the coveted Glitterball trophy at the end of it all.
But as we gear up for another season of Strictly, how many past champions from years gone by can you remember?
Previous winners already in the Strictly hall of fame included soap actors, TV personalities, Olympic athletes and pop stars, and you can check out all 19 of them below:
Natasha Kaplinsky 2004
Newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky was the first star to ever triumph in the inaugural series of Strictly Come Dancing, alongside partner Brendan Cole.
Back in 2004, there were just seven competitors to beat, with the competition lasting just seven weeks – a walk in the park compared to what today’s stars are put through.
Having obviously proved a hit with Strictly viewers, Natasha was later chosen to cover for regular presenter Tess Daly, when she went on maternity leave.
Jill Halfpenny 2004
Clearly sensing they were onto a winner, the BBC decided to kickstart the second series of Strictly just three months after Natasha Kaplinsky’s victory, taking up a spot in the Saturday night schedule in the latter half of the year where it has remained ever since.
Jill Halfpenny was crowned winner second time around, along with her partner, Darren Bennet.
Darren Gough 2005
Darren became the first male celebrity to triumph in the Strictly Come Dancing final in 2005, beating Colin Jackson and eventual It Takes Two presenter Zoe Ball in the process.
He was paired with Lilia Kopylova, who remained with Strictly until 2009.
Mark Ramprakash 2006
Cricket player Mark Ramprakash took home the Glitterball trophy in 2006.
In the above picture, he can be seen performing with his professional partner, Karen Hardy, at the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Awards, a year after his victory.
Alesha Dixon 2007
Strictly helped breathe new life into Alesha’s career, with the singer and professional partner Matthew Cutler eventually being crowned winners in 2007.
Alesha’s smash hit solo single The Boy Does Nothing followed soon after, not to mention a spot on the Strictly judging panel... until Simon Cowell decided to snare her for Britain’s Got Talent, that is.
Tom Chambers 2008
Holby City actor Tom Chambers’ public profile skyrocketed after he and his professional partner, Camilla Dallerup, were crowned winners of the sixth series.
They beat TV presenter Lisa Snowdon and Some Girls singer Rachel Stevens in the live final, back in 2008.
Chris Hollins 2009
After four years with Strictly, Ola Jordan finally got her first (and only) win when she teamed up with BBC Breakfast star Chris Hollins in 2009.
It wasn’t an easy road to victory for the pair, with fellow finalists Ricky Whittle and Ali Bastian putting up quite a fight throughout the competition.
Kara Tointon 2010
It was a double win for Kara and Artem Chigvintsev back in 2010.
Not only did they take home the Glitterball trophy that year, they also announced they were dating shortly afterwards.
Harry Judd 2011
Harry Judd’s time on Strictly truly was a marvellous time for television, wasn’t it? The McFy drummer won with his partner Aliona Vilani in 2011.
Louis Smith 2012
The 10th series was won by Olympian Louis Smith and his professional partner, Flavia Cacace.
By 2012, Strictly was really proving to be a threat to X Factor in the Saturday night ratings, with Louis’ triumph over Denise Van Outen and Kimberley Walsh proving to be even more of a talking point than James Arthur’s win that same year.
Abbey Clancy 2013
In the first ever all-female Strictly final, Abbey beat Susanna Reid, Natalie Gumede and Sophie Ellis-Bextor to the Glitterball trophy.
Abbey’s win was particularly impressive as it marked her professional partner Aljaž Škorjanec’s first year on the show.
Caroline Flack 2014
The late Caroline Flack took part in the competition less than a year after leaving X Factor spin-off show, The Xtra Factor, in a move that got a lot of people talking at the time.
Shortly after her win, Simon Cowell snagged her to host the main show, alongside Olly Murs, with Caroline eventually getting her most iconic presenting job to date the following year when Love Island opened its doors.
Jay McGuiness 2015
The Wanted singer Jay was a true dark horse in 2015′s series of Strictly, only really coming to the forefront when he performed his iconic Pulp Fiction-inspired Jive.
His win made history when his partner Aliona Vilani became the first Strictly pro to win the show twice. Following her win, she decided not to return to the show the following year.
Ore Oduba 2016
All signs pointed to Danny Mac being crowned Strictly champ in 2016, but Ore Oduba and Joanne Clifton surprised everyone with their fantastic showdance and ended up being crowned that year’s winners.
Like Aliona before her, Joanne made the decision to leave Strictly after her win, and went on to carve a new career for herself in musical theatre.
Joe McFadden 2017
After getting Ed Balls further in the competition than anyone could have predicted, Katya Jones helped Joe McFadden take home the Glitterball trophy the following year.
Katya has since been responsible for some of Strictly’s most famous modern pairings, including being part of the show’s first same-sex couple with Nicola Adams and her infamous partnership with Seann Walsh.
Stacey Dooley 2018
Stacey’s 2018 victory felt as much like a win for her professional partner Kevin Clifton as it did for her, as he’d previously made the Strictly final on four separate occasions.
Shortly after their win, the pair confirmed tabloid reports that they were an item, and have been together ever since.
Kelvin Fletcher 2019
The former Emmerdale actor was crowned victor in 2019, when he finally managed to give fan favourite Oti Mabuse her first of two consecutive wins.
Kelvin wasn’t actually supposed to have been on the line-up that year, as he was brought in as a last-minute replacement for Jamie Laing, who had to withdraw due to injury. Unconfirmed reports have suggested the soap star was in the process of signing up for ITV rival Dancing On Ice, but backed out when Strictly came calling.
Bill Bailey 2020
No one could have predicted when Strictly got going in 2020 that Bill Bailey would earn Oti her second win in a row – but he truly charmed everyone as the weeks went on.
Bill’s win came at the end of an especially tough year following the Covid-19 pandemic, and helped put a smile on our faces after a long stretch of international turmoil.
Rose Ayling-Ellis 2021
Rose Ayling-Ellis’ Strictly victory was a true water-cooler moment as she became the first deaf winner in the show’s 19-year history.
She and her partner Giovanni Pernice charmed viewers all the way through the 2021 series, but it was their beautiful Couple’s Choice routine to Clean Bandit’s Symphony that really stood out – even winning them a TV Bafta the following year.