Strictly Come Dancing returned for its seventh series on 18 September 2009 on BBC One. Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly returned as presenters of the main show on BBC One, while Claudia Winkleman presented the spin-off show Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two on BBC Two. Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood, and Bruno Tonioli returned as judges. Series 5 winner Alesha Dixon joined the judging panel as a replacement for Arlene Phillips. Darcey Bussell, who later became a permanent judge from 2012 to 2018, served as a guest judge beginning with the quarterfinal.
Camilla Dallerup, Karen Hardy, and Hayley Holt were replaced as professional female dancers by Natalie Lowe, Aliona Vilani, and Katya Virshilas. The show on 7 November was filmed from the Blackpool Tower Ballroom for the first time since the finale of series 2.
Due to illness, Bruce Forsyth did not appear on the show on 14 November. Tess Daly served as main presenter for the episode alongside the "surprise" addition of Ronnie Corbett, while Claudia Winkleman took over Daly's normal role. Daly and Winkleman both later held these positions permanently from 2014 to 2025.
BBC Breakfast sports presenter Chris Hollins and Ola Jordan were announced as the winners on 19 December, while Hollyoaks actor Ricky Whittle and Natalie Lowe finished in second place.
Format
The couples dance each week in a live show. The judges score each performance out of ten. The couples are then ranked according to the judges' scores and given points according to their rank, with the lowest scored couple receiving one point, and the highest scored couple receiving the most points (the maximum number of points available depends on the number of couples remaining in the competition). The public are also invited to vote for their favourite couples, and the couples are ranked again according to the number of votes they receive, again receiving points; the couple with the fewest votes receiving one point, and the couple with the most votes receiving the most points.
The points for judges' score and public vote are then added together, and the two couples with the fewest points are placed in the bottom two. If two couples have equal points, the points from the public vote are given precedence. As with the previous series, the bottom two couples have to perform a dance-off on the results show. Based on that performance alone, each judge then votes on which couple should stay and which couple should leave, with Len Goodman, as head judge, having the last and deciding vote.About the show, BBC
Couples This series featured sixteen celebrity contestants. Celebrity Notability Professional partner Status Martina Hingis Professional tennis player Matthew Cutler Eliminated 1ston 19 September 2009 Jockey Lilia Kopylova Eliminated 2ndon 26 September 2009 Rav Wilding Crimewatch presenter Aliona Vilani Eliminated 3rdon 3 October 2009 Lynda Bellingham Actress & Loose Women panellist Darren Bennett Eliminated 4thon 10 October 2009 Joe Calzaghe Professional boxer Kristina Rihanoff Eliminated 5thon 17 October 2009 Jo Wood Model & entrepreneur Brendan Cole Eliminated 6thon 24 October 2009 Zöe Lucker Footballers' Wives actress James Jordan Eliminated 7thon 31 October 2009 Craig Kelly Coronation Street actor Flavia Cacace Eliminated 8thon 7 November 2009 Phil Tufnell England cricketer Katya Virshilas Eliminated 9thon 14 November 2009 Jade Johnson Olympic long jumper Ian Waite Withdrew on 21 November 2009 Ricky Groves EastEnders actor Erin Boag Eliminated 10thon 21 November 2009 Natalie Cassidy EastEnders actress Vincent Simone Eliminated 11thon 28 November 2009 Laila Rouass Footballers' Wives actress Anton Du Beke Eliminated 12thon 5 December 2009 Ali Bastian The Bill & Hollyoaks actress Brian Fortuna Eliminated 13thon 12 December 2009 Ricky Whittle Hollyoaks actor Natalie Lowe Runners-upon 19 December 2009 Chris Hollins BBC Breakfast sports presenter Ola Jordan Winnerson 19 December 2009
Scoring chart The highest score each week is indicated in with a dagger (), while the lowest score each week is indicated in with a double-dagger ().
Color key:
+Strictly Come Dancing (series 7) - Weekly scores Couple Week1234567891011121314 Chris & Ola 1st26+30=56 23 25 22 28 29 34 30 29 34+7=41 41+39=80 38+42= 46+44+50+46= 2nd 33+32= 32 32 35 31+9=40 48+47= 47+49= 50+43+48+49= Ali & Brian 3rd30+30= 32 32 29 33 35 37+10= 42+44=86 42+50=92 Laila & Anton 4th 30+25=55 30 22 28 33 30 29 31+8=39 33+26= Natalie & Vincent 5th 24+26=50 28 29 27 29 30 31 34 26 26+7= Ricky G. & Erin 6th21+26=47 29 28 25 29 25 29 Jade & Ian 7th25+27=52 31 29 35 32 35 33 Phil & Katya 8th 29+22=51 24 24 27 25 30 28 31 Craig & Flavia 9th 22+22=44 21 24 18 Zöe & James 10th 30+31=61 31 33 30 33 32 Jo & Brendan 11th 18+18= 20 23 Joe & Kristina 12th16+16= 21 Lynda & Darren 13th21+23=44 25 24 Rav & Aliona 14th 19+22=41 20 Richard & Lilia 15th 19+19=38 16th 22+24=46 Notes
Average chart This table only counts for dances scored on a traditional 40-point scale. Darcey Bussell's scores from Weeks 12-14 have been removed accordingly. Couple Rank byaverage Totalpoints Number ofdances Totalaverage Ricky W. & Natalie 1st 682 19 35.9 Ali & Brian 2nd 512 15 34.1 Zoë & James 3rd 220 7 31.4 Chris & Ola 4th 588 19 30.9 Jade & Ian 5th 247 8 Natalie & Vincent 6th 310 11 28.1 Laila & Anton 7th 362 13 27.8 Phil & Katya 8th 240 9 26.7 Ricky G. & Erin 9th 258 10 25.8 Lynda & Darren 10th 93 4 23.3 Martina & Matthew 11th 46 2 23.0 Craig & Flavia 12th 168 8 21.0 Rav & Aliona 13th 61 3 20.3 Richard & Lilia 14th 38 2 19.0 Jo & Brendan 15th 113 6 18.8 Joe & Kristina 16th 92 5 18.4
Weekly scores Unless indicated otherwise, individual judges scores in the charts below (given in parentheses) are listed in this order from left to right: Craig Revel Horwood, Len Goodman, Alesha Dixon, Bruno Tonioli.
Week 1 Musical guest: Katherine Jenkins — "I Believe"
Only half of the couples performed this week, and they performed once each on two different nights. On the first night, they performed either the tango or the waltz; and on the second night, they performed either the cha-cha-cha or the rumba. The couples who did not compete this week performed a group merengue that was not scored. One couple was eliminated after the second night. Couples are listed in the order they performed. Night 1 CoupleScoresDanceMusic Rav & Aliona 19 (3, 6, 5, 5) Tango "Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing" — Chris Isaak Ricky G. & Erin 21 (4, 6, 6, 5) Waltz "What'll I Do" — Irving Berlin Chris & Ola 26 (6, 7, 7, 6) Tango "Sharp Dressed Man" — ZZ Top Jade & Ian 25 (6, 7, 6, 6) Waltz "Weekend in New England" — Barry Manilow Martina & Matthew 22 (4, 6, 6, 6) Waltz "Jesse" — Roberta Flack Lynda & Darren 21 (3, 6, 7, 5) Tango "Under Pressure" — Queen & David Bowie Ali & Brian 30 (7, 8, 8, 7) Waltz "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" — Diana Ross Joe & Kristina 16 (2, 5, 5, 4) Tango "Cité Tango" — Astor Piazzolla
Night 2 CoupleScoresDanceMusicResult Jade & Ian 27 (6, 7, 7, 7) Cha-cha-cha "Ain't No Other Man" — Christina Aguilera Safe Ali & Brian 30 (7, 7, 8, 8) Rumba "That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne Warwick Safe Lynda & Darren 23 (5, 6, 6, 6) Cha-cha-cha "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" — Elton John & Kiki Dee Safe Rav & Aliona 22 (4, 6, 5, 7) Rumba "Temptation" — Tom Waits Bottom two Chris & Ola 30 (7, 8, 7, 8) Rumba "Don't Know Much" — Linda Ronstadt Safe Joe & Kristina 16 (2, 5, 5, 4) Cha-cha-cha "Chain of Fools" — Aretha Franklin Safe Martina & Matthew 24 (5, 6, 7, 6) Rumba "Alone" — Heart Eliminated Ricky G. & Erin 26 (6, 7, 7, 6) Cha-cha-cha "Jump (for My Love)" — The Pointer Sisters Safe Judges' votes to save Horwood: Martina & Matthew Dixon: Martina & Matthew Tonioli: Rav & Aliona Goodman: Rav & Aliona (Since the other judges were not unanimous, Len Goodman, as head judge, made the final decision to save Rav & Aliona.)
Week 2 Musical guest: Jamie Cullum — "I'm All Over It"
The format this week was the same as last week. The half of the couples who did not perform last week performed once each on two different nights. They performed either the tango or the waltz on the first night, and either the cha-cha-cha or the rumba on the second night. The couples who did not compete this week performed a group merengue that was not scored. One couple was eliminated after the second night. Couples are listed in the order they performed. Night 1 CoupleScoresDanceMusic Natalie & Vincent 24 (6, 6, 6, 6) Tango "Spider of the Night" — Pedro Manilla Zöe & James 30 (7, 8, 7, 8) Waltz "Some Day My Prince Will Come" — Adriana Caselotti Craig & Flavia 22 (5, 6, 5, 6) Tango "Jai Ho" — Pussycat Dolls Richard & Lilia 19 (4, 5, 5, 5) Waltz "Truly" — Lionel Richie Laila & Anton 30 (7, 8, 7, 8) Tango "El Choclo" — Ángel Villoldo Phil & Katya 29 (7, 8, 7, 7) Waltz "Sam" — Olivia Newton-John Jo & Brendan 18 (3, 5, 5, 5) Tango "Let's Dance" — David Bowie Ricky W. & Natalie 33 (8, 9, 8, 8) Waltz "It Is You (I Have Loved)" — Dana Glover
Night 2 CoupleScoresDanceMusicResult Phil & Katya 22 (4, 6, 6, 6) Cha-cha-cha "Daddy" — Della Reese Safe Craig & Flavia 22 (5, 6, 5, 6) Rumba "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" — Amy Winehouse Bottom two Laila & Anton 25 (6, 7, 6, 6) Cha-cha-cha "Sway" — Rosemary Clooney Safe Zöe & James 31 (8, 7, 8, 8) Rumba "Out of Reach" — Gabrielle Safe Jo & Brendan 18 (3, 5, 5, 5) Rumba "Fallen" — Lauren Wood Safe Richard & Lilia 19 (4, 5, 5, 5) Cha-cha-cha "I'm Your Man" — Wham! Eliminated Ricky W. & Natalie 32 (8, 8, 8, 8) Rumba "Stepping Stone" — Duffy Safe Natalie & Vincent 26 (6, 7, 7, 6) Cha-cha-cha "Bang Bang" — David Sanborn Safe Judges' votes to save Horwood: Craig & Flavia Dixon: Craig & Flavia Tonioli: Craig & Flavia Goodman: Did not vote, but would have voted to save Richard & Lilia
Week 3 Musical guest: Andy Williams — "Moon River"
Couples performed either the paso doble or the quickstep, and are listed in the order they performed. CoupleScoresDanceMusicResult Ali & Brian 32 (8, 8, 8, 8) Quickstep "I Get a Kick Out of You" — Frank Sinatra Safe Lynda & Darren 25 (5, 7, 7, 6) Paso doble "Devil Woman" — Cliff Richard Bottom two Chris & Ola 23 (5, 6, 6, 6) Quickstep "Dancin' Fool" — Barry Manilow Safe Zöe & James 31 (7, 8, 8, 8) Paso doble "You've Got the Love" — Florence and the Machine Safe Rav & Aliona 20 (3, 6, 5, 6) Quickstep "We Go Together" — John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John Eliminated Natalie & Vincent 28 (6, 7, 8, 7) Paso doble "Malagueña" — Connie Francis Safe Craig & Flavia 21 (4, 6, 6, 5) Quickstep "Peroxide Swing" — Michael Bublé Safe Ricky W. & Natalie 35 (8, 9, 9, 9) Paso doble "Spanish Gypsy Dance" — Pascual Marquina Narro Safe Jade & Ian 31 (7, 8, 8, 8) Quickstep "Fascination" — Alphabeat Safe Joe & Kristina 19 (3, 5, 6, 5) Paso doble "Livin' on a Prayer" — Bon Jovi Safe Laila & Anton 30 (8, 8, 7, 7) Quickstep "Strike Up the Band" — Tony Bennett Safe Jo & Brendan 20 (3, 6, 6, 5) Paso doble "Because the Night" — Patti Smith Safe Phil & Katya 24 (5, 6, 6, 7) Quickstep "Put on a Happy Face" — Tony Bennett Safe Ricky G. & Erin 29 (7, 7, 8, 7) Paso doble "One Vision" — Queen Safe Judges' votes to save Horwood: Lynda & Darren Dixon: Lynda & Darren Tonioli: Lynda & Darren Goodman: Did not vote, but would have voted to save Lynda & Darren
Week 4 Musical guest: Dionne Bromfield — "Mama Said" (with Amy Winehouse providing backing vocals)
Couples performed either the foxtrot or the salsa, and are listed in the order they performed.