Strictly judge Shirley Ballas reveals her favourite winners of all time

strictly come dancing shirley ballas
Strictly judge reveals favourite winners of allBBC

Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas has revealed her favourite winners of all time.

Speaking to Mirror, the Strictly judge said that her favourite winners overall were last year's champions Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice.

"My overall favourite because of her display of femininity, fluidity," Ballas said. "The choreography from Giovanni was astonishing.

Describing the couple's silent routine where the music was switched off during their performance to raise awareness for the deaf community, Ballas said: "The minute they took the music off and everyone went into her world, I thought, ‘The public are going to love it as much as we do’."

Though Rose and Giovanni made it to the top of her list, Ballas revealed that Ore Oduba and Joanne Clifton's win had made the top five.

"Ore’s win was just before I joined the show, and I’ve known and taught Joanne for many years," she explained, adding that Ore's dancing was "just fabulous".

Coming next on Shirley's list were Strictly 2018 winners Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton, who the judge described as "just brilliant".

"Stacey was just effervescent and sparkly and bubbly, and Kevin, another ex-pupil of mine, was the ultimate pro. He brought a joy of dance that is greatly missed on Strictly," Shirley said of the pair.

Next on Shirley's list of all time favourites were Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse, who won back in 2019.

"The first week’s samba, I think all our jaws dropped. And then Kelvin continued throughout to improve."

Finally the judge said of 2017 winners Joe McFadden and Katya Jones: "Another astonishing final dance. When Joe came out all dressed up in his red outfit with his little rosy cheeks, he and Katya were so in-sync and together and connected."

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