Nadiya Bychkova (; born 24 August 1989) is a Ukrainian ballroom and Latin American dancer who is a multiple-time Slovenian Ballroom and Latin Champion and two-time World and European Champion in '10' Dance. Between 2017 and 2025, she was a professional dancer on the British competition dance show Strictly Come Dancing. She holds two Guinness World Records at Strictly's Pro Challenge for the most dance steps in 30 seconds - for fleckerls in 2020 and pat-a-cakes in 2021.
Personal life In 2013, Bychkova married Russian dancer Sergey Konovaltsev; the marriage lasted two years. Bychkova was later engaged to Slovenian footballer Matija Skarabot, with whom she has a daughter named Mila.
In April 2015, Bychkova featured in the Ukrainian edition of Playboy magazine; she was also on the cover of FHM in March 2012.
In an appearance on Saturday Mash-Up! in January 2022, Bychkova was 'Super Slimed' with 20 buckets of gunge, after receiving 63% of a viewer vote against Dan Walker and Kai Widdrington. Also in January 2022, she announced that she and Matija were no longer a couple and had been living apart for a while. In June 2022, she confirmed she was in a relationship with Strictly co-star Kai Widdrington, although they are reportedly no longer together as of July 2024.
Career
Strictly Come Dancing
In 2017, Bychkova appeared as a professional dancer in the fifteenth series of the British television dance show Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with EastEnders actor Davood Ghadami. They reached the quarter final of the competition, finishing in sixth place.
She returned for her second series in 2018, partnered with another 'former' EastEnders actor and Blue singer Lee Ryan. The couple were eliminated in week three.
Bychkova returned for her third series in 2019 and was partnered with ex-professional footballer David James. They were the fourth couple to be eliminated.
In 2021, Bychkova was paired with television journalist, BBC Breakfast, The NFL Show and former Football Focus presenter Dan Walker, some taller. In 2022, Bychkova was paired with singer, Matt Goss. They were the third couple to be eliminated. In 2023, Bychkova returned to the series but had no celebrity partner. In 2024, Bychkova was paired with Olympic swimmer Tom Dean. They were the first couple to be eliminated after losing the first dance-off to Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones. For the twenty-third series which transpired to be Bychkova's last, she was paired with former England rugby player Chris Robshaw, and they were the third couple to be eliminated after losing the dance off to Balvinder Sopal and Julian Caillon in the fourth week.
She had previously been a professional dancer on the Bosnian version of the show. She also participated in the Christmas Special 3 times: with Larry Lamb in 2022, Dan Snow in 2023 and Billy Monger in 2024.
In March 2026, it was announced that Bychkova would not be returning after being axed from the show along with several other professional dancers. Speaking on her exit, she said "After nine wonderful years, this part of my journey with Strictly Come Dancing is evolving. [The show] has allowed me to discover new sides of myself, develop new skills, and evolve as an artist in ways I will always be grateful for. This isn’t the end... I look forward to being part of the Strictly world for many years to come in ways I am beginning to explore" Series Partner Place AverageScore15Davood Ghadami6th30.416Lee Ryan14th22.317David James12th17.419Dan Walker5th27.520Matt Goss13th 20.822Tom Dean15th 21.523Chris Robshaw13th19.0
Highest and Lowest scoring per dance DancePartnerHighestPartnerLowest American Smooth Davood Ghadami 35 David James 16 Argentine Tango Cha-Cha-Cha 27 Lee Ryan Charleston Dan Walker Couple's Choice Dan Walker 28Dance-a-thon Davood Ghadami 4 Foxtrot Dan Walker 21 David James 17 Jive Davood Ghadami 29 Paso Doble 35 Quickstep David James 28 Matt Goss 20 Rumba Dan Walker 31 Davood Ghadami 25SalsaChris Robshaw24Samba Davood Ghadami 25Chris Robshaw 14Tango Dan Walker 31 Tom Dean 23Viennese Waltz Davood Ghadami 29 Chris Robshaw 16Waltz 35 Lee Ryan 22
numbers indicate Nadiya and her partner were at the top of the leaderboard that week. numbers indicate Nadiya and her partner were at the bottom of the leaderboard that week.
Series 15 Celebrity partner: Davood Ghadami Week No.Dance/SongJudges' scoreTotalResult1Cha-cha-cha / "Dedication to My Ex (Miss That)"677727No Elimination2Quickstep / "Last Nite"67 7 7 27 Safe 3 Samba / "Stayin' Alive" 4 7 7 7 25 Safe 4 Viennese Waltz / "Say You Love Me" 6 7 8 8 29Bottom two 5 Jive / "Tell Her About It" 6 8 8 – 22 Safe 6 Rumba / "Wicked Game" 5 7 6 7 25 Safe 7 American Smooth / "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)" 8 9 9 9 35 Safe 8 Charleston / "The Lambeth Walk" 9 9 10 10 Safe 9Paso Doble / "Live and Let Die" 8 9 9 9 35 Safe10Waltz / "With You I'm Born Again"899935Safe 11 Argentine Tango / "The Phantom of the Opera" 7 8 7 7 Eliminated
Series 16 Celebrity partner: Lee Ryan Week No.Dance/SongJudges' scoreTotalResult 1 Waltz / "Take It To The Limit" 4 6 6 6 22 No Elimination2 Jive / "Blue Suede Shoes" 6 7 6 7 26Bottom two 3 Cha-Cha-Cha / "The Power of Love" 3 5 5 6 Eliminated
Series 17 Celebrity partner: David James Week No.Dance/SongJudges' scoreTotalResult 1 Foxtrot / "Three Lions" 3 4 5 5 17 No Elimination 2 Paso Doble / "España cañí" 2 3 2 3 Bottom two 3 American Smooth / "Kiss from a Rose" 4 4 4 4 16Bottom two 4 Quickstep / "From Now On 6 7 7 8 28 Safe 5 Jive / "Such a Night" 3 4 4 5 Eliminated
Series 19 Celebrity partner: Dan Walker Week No.Dance/SongJudges' scoreTotalResult 1 Quickstep / "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" 5 5 7 7 24 No Elimination 2 Paso Doble / "Giant" 7 6 6 7 26 Safe 3 Foxtrot / "Once Upon a Dream" 3 5 7 6 21 Safe 4 Cha-cha-cha / "U Can't Touch This/Super Freak 5 7 7 7 26 Safe 5 Viennese Waltz / "She's Always a Woman" 7 7 7 7 28 Safe 6 Jive / "Rock Lobster" 5 8 7 7 27 Safe 7 Couple's Choice / "Classic" 6 7 8 7 28 Safe 8 American Smooth / "King of the Road" 4 8 8 9 29 Safe 9 Charleston / "Good Morning" 7 7 9 8 Safe 10 Rumba / "Desperado" 6 9 8 8 31 Safe 11 Tango / "Santa María (del Buen Ayre)" 7 8 9 7 31 Eliminated
Series 20 Celebrity partner: Matt Goss Week No.Dance/SongJudges' scoreTotalResult 1 Quickstep / "Sir Duke" 5 5 5 5 20 No Elimination 2 Samba / "Night Fever" 4 6 6 6 Bottom two 3 Viennese Waltz / "Hold My Hand" 3 6 5 7 21 Safe 4 Jive / "All Shook Up" 3 6 5 6 Eliminated
Series 22 Celebrity partner: Tom Dean Week No.Dance/SongJudges' scoreTotalResult 1 Tango / "Golden" 5 6 6 6 23 No Elimination 2 Cha-cha-cha / "Boogie Wonderland" 3 6 5 6 20 Eliminated
Series 23 Celebrity partner: Chris Robshaw Week No.Dance/SongJudges' scoreTotalResult 1 Samba / "Unbelievable" 3 4 3 4 14 No elimination 2 Viennese waltz / "Die With A Smile" 3 4 4 5 16Bottom two 3 Paso doble / "Sweet Child o' Mine" 4 6 6 6 22 Safe4Salsa / “María”467724 Eliminated
Dance tours In September 2024, Bychkova and Kai Widdrington announced they were to appear at "Dancing With The Stars Weekends" 2025.
Other projects In 2025, Bychkova starred in the Netflix movie 10Dance.
Notes
References