Strictly Family - Series 22

 The 2024 finalists

Strictly Come Dancing (Series 22) - 2024

Date - 14th September (launch show) - 14th December 2024

15 couples

That time period in context - The UK General Election in July saw the Tories get voted out (after over a decade of being truly awful while in charge) and a Labour government come into power, which didn't feel as good as it should have done. ‘Wicked’ and ‘Gladiator 2’ came out in November and went for a similar ‘Barbenheimer’ style effect by calling it ‘Glicked’ (but ‘Wicked’ well and truly took the crown). Israel continued bombing and carrying out the appalling genocide in Palestine, as well as launching attacks in Lebanon. The Paris Olympics were much discussed during our ‘brat, demure’ summer (and sadly, transphobia dominated a lot of the Olympics conversation). The pole vaulter got quite a lot of attention too. Life also felt a bit more depressing and hopeless with the truly terrible US election results (and what it says about the scary rise of the far right in general). So much I could say about all the despair and hurt from him winning, I can’t believe that we’re here again…

So, it’s fair to say that it definitely wasn’t a great year/end of the year, so shall we move on?

Judges

Shirley Ballas (head judge), Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood

Presenters

Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly

Fleur East and Janette Manrara (It Takes Two)

Addition to Format (nothing really happened in between the 2023 and 2024 seasons, did it?!)

The Samba-thon in Week 9 (better than expected, and less chaotic than some danceathons from previous years but I don’t know anyone who was super hyped for it. I could be wrong though).

Amy Dowden and Aljaz Skorjanec returned to dance with partners (and I’ll say more about the dancers who didn’t in a bit…)

Amy was unfortunately unable to do the full series for health reasons but the lovely Lauren Oakley stepped in to finish the series with her partner and they made a great team.

Dancers

Tom Dean and Nadiya Bychkova

Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones

Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk

Paul Merson and Karen Hauer

Dr Punam Krishan and Gorka Marquez

Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin

Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu

Wynne Evans and Katya Jones

Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas (her first partner <3)

Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe

Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystal

JB Gill and Amy Dowden (and Lauren Oakley in the second half of the series)

Tasha Ghouri and Aljaz Skorjanec

Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola

Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell

Celebrities we’d heard of before the series

Toyah, Shayne and JB (from when he won the 2012 Christmas special and I knew of his JLS bandmates, thanks to ‘SCD’ and ‘Hit List’). Sarah H was my favourite throughout the whole series (before it had even officially started) as while ‘Miranda’ may not be my favourite show any longer, it was for a while and she also appeared in the iconic ‘Horrible Histories’ and my very favourite show (which may come up in the last section)… I was aware of quite a few of the contestants this year, even if I didn’t really know them as I’d heard of Chris, Wynne (just from that Go Compare advert) and Jamie (from the 2023 Christmas special).

 Sarah and Vito

Who we voted for

Sarah was my fave, as I’ve said, and she was truly a delight to watch. She was incredibly talented and joyful and Sarah and Vito were a proper dream team. I voted for Montell as well as she found herself in far too many dance offs and deserved much better (related to unfortunate patterns that have been all too prevalent and disappointing basically every year). There wasn’t really one couple that we voted for consistently though, I wouldn’t say.

Celebrities we liked more after the series

Like so many viewers, we couldn’t help but be genuinely wowed by Chris every week and not just because of his humility, humour and wholesome bond with Dianne. For those who might not know, Chris is a comedian who was the first blind person to take part in (and - spoilers - win) SCD and watching the connection and trust between him and Dianne was incredible. Montell and Sam were two wonderful, talented women who deserved a lot better as well and JB came off as a genuinely sweet, decent guy. Also, Tasha (the first deaf person to go on ‘Love Island’) was/is such a star and an exceptional dancer, as well as proving herself to be beautiful inside and out with her words of support for everyone online.

 Montell and Johannes (or Mojo)

Was it obvious who was going to win? 

In a word - yes. From just a few weeks in, you could already feel the love people had for Chris (and Dianne as his partner/teacher) and the reaction to them was so overwhelmingly positive, which is pretty great given the darker side of the show. They definitely had that special something (whatever it is, they had it).

Were there any articles moaning about previous dance experience?

Oh yes. In fact, it was Tasha who got the short straw with this particular complaint this time (it more often happens with the women on the show, in all honesty) as she wasn’t the only one with previous experience and it was a different style anyway.

Did it matter?

It did impact Tasha and Aljaz a bit tbh (especially in the run up to the final) with them ending up in the dance off even after scoring a perfect 40. However, I think it was pretty likely that it was going to be Chris lifting that trophy this year no matter what as he really was so impressive.

Shock Exit

Tom going out first was quite a surprise (especially with it being a big Olympic year) as he had the potential to get a lot further. Speaking of which, Shayne, Sam, Jamie and Montell all deserved to last longer than they did, for my money.

Was there anyone who arguably stayed in too long?

As much as I genuinely don’t like to see anyone go out, Wynne and Pete possibly overstayed their welcome a bit, for me. They were both decent dancers but what with losing Sam halfway through and Montell and Tasha ending up in multiple dance offs, it was a bit frustrating to see that yet again fairly average white guys were sailing through and getting almost constant praise from the judges no matter what, while other contestants were regularly undermarked and receiving more scrutiny and criticism in general.

The story of the series

Well, the big one was how/if the show was going to change after the controversies since the last season. Giovanni and Graziano didn’t return for this series and there was an introduction of chaperones into the training rooms after the allegations of misconduct/inappropriate behaviour. For this year though, I’d say it includes Paul not wanting to be the comedy/novelty act, Nick getting injured, the Wynne and Katya discourse, Lauren stepping in to dance with JB when Amy was unable to ‘keep dancing’ for the second half of the series for health reasons (hope she’s doing ok <3). Although, to be entirely truthful, Chris was arguably the biggest story this year. In fact, practically everyone who watched this series was blown away every week and was truly fascinated about how he was doing it, as well as being rightfully impressed at his ability and how he grew to love it. It’s important to give Dianne the credit that she deserves too as it was lovely to witness the supportive encouragement and kindness she exuded while teaching and working with him. It was one of the most emotional finals that I’ve ever seen and even if the result wasn’t a surprise, it was still met with a lot of joy and celebration. Also, there was almost the sense that despite all of the controversies and many, many issues with this freaking show, there is a reason why so many return to it every year and fall in love with it all over again. There is just something about it that feels like home or a messed up but sometimes great family tradition. It still has a certain kind of magic to it and a sense of hope and unbridled joy with how it challenges preconceived notions about disability in a genuinely inclusive, life-affirming way. Damn this flawed but kind of incredible, messed up but great show. I can’t believe it’s over for another year.

What was going on with us?

Well, Mum was still working in mental health support and doing amazing work, Dad spent more time on the water and started at the UoD (University of Dundee) library in February and I had a few more admin jobs (short-term contracts obvs). After I finished a job at the UoD Health Service, I ended up getting a seasonal job in the Overgate and starting an online Counselling Skills course. Mum and Dad also took a trip to Ireland and I went to the USA to see family* before coming home just in time for the start of the, sadly, final series of my very favourite show ‘Inside No.9’. We also went to England to see relatives in March and October (as well for the health conference) and did countless crosswords and quizzes along the way.

*It was really lovely to see them but I don’t think I’ll be stateside again anytime soon (certainly not at any point in the next four years).

 The 2024 champions - Chris and Dianne