Strictly the best!

An average of 10.9 million viewers tune in each Saturday to Strictly Come Dancing. Over the course of the series, loyal Strictly fans will spend around 1,970 minutes. This is equal to nearly 33 hours sat in the comfort of their living room, watching the professionals and celebrities dance their way round the studio dancefloor each Saturday and Sunday.

To commemorate Strictly Come Dancing waltzing its way back onto our screens for its 20th series, Fenetic Wellbeing have looked back over the years to determine the best of the best – the UK’s favourite dance style, the most popular theme week and the most viewed Strictly performance.

The UK’s Favourite Dance

Dancing is not only great for balance, posture and flexibility, but is generally just a fun way to exercise and encourage people to get moving. Whether you go to your local dance class, play your favourite song to two-step round your living room, or enjoy having a little boogie from the comfort of your chair and dancing like no one is watching.

There’s no denying that sitting and watching the Strictly contestants Quickstep, Cha-Cha and Waltz around the dancefloor gets you in the mood for dancing. No matter what age or ability we all begin to wonder whether we’ve still got what it takes to make some moves on the dancefloor.

The UK’s Favourite Themed Week

We know just how much viewers love the Strictly themed weeks, but which one is the UK’s favourite? Looking at viewing figures over the last 5 series, we have calculated which themed week has the highest average viewing figures. As the dancers have been unable to travel to Blackpool to perform at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom for the past two years, these viewing figures were excluded from the data. Having said this, viewing figures for Strictly’s week at Blackpool usually increase by around 6%.

There’s no surprise that the final achieves the highest viewing figures on Strictly, with the couples’ show dances, special guest performances, a final performance from the Strictly Class of 2021 and of course … the crowning of the winners and the lifting of the glitter ball! This year there is a special themed week to celebrate BBC’s 100 years of broadcasting where the BBC have said that dancers will dance to ‘’a theme tune from an iconic BBC programme or in tribute to one of the BBC’s most loved services’’.

The UK’s Favourite Strictly Performance

Although all of the performances on Strictly are spectacular (well, nearly all of them!), we have looked at the number of YouTube views each performance has got and whittled it down to the top 10 performances over the last 5 series.

Danny Mac and his partner Oti Mabuse have taken the lead with over 6 million views! Their Samba to ‘Magalenha’ by Sergio Mendes made Strictly history as he became the first contestant to EVER score a perfect 40 for the dance! The Samba is usually considered one of the hardest dances for the celebrities to learn as it’s so fast-paced and technical, however Danny Mac defied the odds with his outstanding performance.

Celebrity contestants Joe Sugg and Faye Tozer have made it onto the leader board twice! Both made it to the Strictly Come Dancing 2018 Final, but both missed the chance to lift the glitterball as Stacey Dooley and her partner, Kevin Clifton, beat them too it.

As for the professionals, Giovanni features in the top 10 performances an impressive 3 times, not only for his performances with Faye Tozer but also for his moving performance with Rose Ayling-Ellis in the final. Halfway through their couples choice dance to ‘Symphony’, the music paused and there was around 10 seconds of complete silence while the pair kept dancing in perfect time to one another. Their breath-taking performance not only won a BAFTA for ‘Virgin Media’s Must-See Moment’, but also made headway in increasing awareness and understanding of deafness.

How to stay comfy while watching hours of TV

It may or may not surprise you that older adults actually watch more TV than younger people. Watching TV is what most 70-105 year olds spend their leisure time doing – it’s not just a means of light entertainment but helps them to continue to learn, connect with the world and often create a diversion from their potentially lonely reality. Despite being one of ‘baby boomers’ favourite pass times, there are certain health issues that can arise from sitting and watch TV for prolonged periods of time.

Recliner chairs can be adjusted to change your position for different activities like watching TV, reading, or just having a snooze! Sitting slightly reclined and with your feet up takes the weight and pressure off your joints while sat down so is ideal is you’re suffering with arthritis or joint pain. The additional support and cushioning allows you to sit comfortably for longer periods of time, allowing you to enjoy endless hours of Strictly Come Dancing over the coming weeks.

When you’re done watching TV, our riser recliners can also help you get up and out of your chair. It can be very frustrating to need assistance for the simplest of things, such as standing up out of your chair. The riser recliners ‘lift and tilt’ function helps you maintain a level of independence by offering support when getting in and out of your chair. You can find out full selection of riser recliners here, or read out guide on how to choose a riser recliner chair that is best suited to you.

Credits

1 https://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/most-viewed-programmes/ - NB. This data doesn’t include 2020 as the series only ran for 10 weeks due to COVID.