This year, the BBC’s ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ has been the best ever – in every way a real tonic. I write this knowing that there will be some readers who will be surprised to learn that I am a Strictly fan, indeed, to learn that I have been a regular viewer for the last ten years.

For those not familiar with Strictly,  it is a ballroom dance competition that runs for thirteen weeks each year from September to Christmas. Contestants with no ballroom dancing experience (‘dance-naive’) are paired with ballroom dance professionals and together they compete against other similarly paired couples.  Over the weeks, they learn to dance traditional ballroom and Latin styles such waltz, foxtrot, jive, rumba, samba and the Charleston.

The contestants are an eclectic bunch which includes the likes of athletes, MPs, chefs, personalities in current affairs programme or ‘Soaps’, influencers, singers and amongst them there is often someone with a disability – last year’s winner was a comedian who was blind! In their selection there seem to be only two rules: contestants must be celebrities and should not already have any professional ballroom dancing experience. 

For each of their dances, couples are scored by a panel of judges and to this number is added votes submitted by the public. At the end of each programme, the couple receiving the lowest accumulated score is eliminated from the competition. This year, the series started with fifteen couples and in the final session, which was watched by 8.4 million viewers, the number had been reduced to three; these couples danced against each other (the ‘dance off’) with only the public vote deciding on the winner. Amid much celebration the winning celebrity, who this year was Karen Carney, wins a model of the glitter ball (see first illustration) plus a prize said to be £100,000.

While my attachment to Strictly might seem out-of-character it actually fits with a long-standing love of dancing. I have never been good at dancing myself and certainly have no interest in ballet, but I have always been enamoured  by musicals in which dancing – particularly tap – is a key component. In all this I am moved not just by the music or the dancing itself but also by how the couples move as they relate to one another and to the accompanying rhythm. It is all these I am looking for on Strictly and, of course they are only seen in the best of the celebrities and it is these that I actually ‘follow’. I know that many fans like the glitz and the glamour of the costumes and the settings, but for me these are of no interest.

Like many other people who like particular TV programmes, I enjoy discussing the week’s episode with someone else with a similar interest. In my case it is my French teacher and at the beginning of each lesson, in French we spend time reviewing the most recent Strictly. And while I am the complete amateur, he brings a very special ingredient: he loves and teaches ballroom dancing, in fact he is so involved that he has become a qualified judge in competitions involving jive. In our chats, at the beginning of each series we discuss who we see as our favourite to eventually win and this year, after her jive in episode one, both of us backed Karen to win – as indeed she did!

It was a pleasure to watch each week this dance-naive woman of thirty eight, tutored by her dance parter – Carlos Gu who she admired and trusted – as she improved beyond recognition. And in all this there was one particularly important change. In the earlier weeks her musicality was obvious but it did have an element of athleticism – remember she had played football for years. Then, in the semifinal she danced a waltz which I saw as extraordinary and which the judges commented was graceful and elegant. Now she had reached a peak. 

In all this, something special happened to Karen which gave me added pleasure. Here was a famous footballer who played for England 144 times, who had three university degrees, who had been awarded an MBE and an OBE and had chaired a Government review on sport but who, when interviewed was often strangely diffident. But it appeared that there was a possible explanation for this and with Strictly came some resolution. Recently her life had been marred by injury, by internet abuse with threats, by a drug habit and by suicidal thoughts. However, she told how thanks to Strictly she was now able to show who she was; she has never smiled so much (see second illustration) and that through Strictly she had “found myself again”. In addition, in the dress made for her to dance the waltz, for the first time in ages, she was made to feel beautiful. 

This year’s Strictly was a resounding success for one contestant who became a wonderful dancer, who ultimately won the competition and whose journey helped change her life. Thank you Karen for giving us viewers so much. 

The first illustration shows the Glitterball, the symbol representing Strictly Come Dancing and which appears repeatedly throughout each programme. The second illustration shows a photo of a relaxed and happy-looking Karen Carney with her professional dance partner Carlos Gu with whom she won the 2025 Strictly Glitterball.

For helping me write this blog, I would like to thank Thierry, Sarah and Rohan (who incidentally does not watch the programme).