Jowita Maria Przystał (born 22 August 1994) is a Polish ballroom dancer. She is known for appearing on and winning both The Greatest Dancer in 2020 and Strictly Come Dancing in 2022, becoming the first female Strictly Professional to win in her first year with a partner and has been a professional on Strictly Come Dancing since 2021.
Career Przystał and her partner Michael Danilczuk have represented Poland in national and international competitions. In 2014 they became Polish Open Latin Champions. They have also performed with Burn the Floor. Przystał and Danilczuk have also performed in Broadway musical productions such as Legally Blonde, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Rock of Ages. They moved to London in 2019 to pursue careers in the United Kingdom. In 2020, Przystał and Danilczuk appeared on The Greatest Dancer. They were crowned winners of the second series. The prize was £50,000 and an opportunity to perform on the next series of BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing. They appeared on Week 6 of the eighteenth series of Strictly, in November 2020, as the guest dancers during the musical interlude. In September 2021, Przystał joined the nineteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing as a professional.
She appeared in group dances in her first year. In her second year on the show, she was partnered with Hamza Yassin and they won that series.
Strictly Come Dancing Przystał started her Strictly career in the nineteenth series, but was not partnered with a celebrity, only appearing in group dances. For the twentieth series, she received her first celebrity partner, cameraman and presenter Hamza Yassin. On 17 December 2022, they were announced the series champions, after beating Helen Skelton and Gorka Marquez, Fleur East and Vito Coppola, and Molly Rainford and Carlos Gu in the final. She is the fifth professional dancer and first ever female pro dancer to win their first series with a celebrity partner.
She has reached the semi-final twice, first with Hamza Yassin, and secondly with Pete Wicks, with the latter being the last celebrity to be eliminated before the Final.
SeriesPartnerPlaceAverageScore20Hamza Yassin1st35.421Jody Cundy13th19.022Pete Wicks5th 27.123Ross King14th14.724Lawrence Robb
Highest and lowest scoring per dance DancePartnerHighestPartnerLowestAmerican Smooth Hamza Yassin 38 Jody Cundy 20Argentine Tango 37 Pete Wicks 33Cha-cha-cha 38 Ross King 10Charleston 39 Couple's Choice 40 Pete Wicks 36Dance-a-thonPete Wicks3Foxtrot Hamza Yassin 34 Pete Wicks 29Jive 24 Paso Doble Lawrence Robb 20 Jody Cundy 16Quickstep Hamza Yassin 35 21Rumba 25 Pete Wicks 22Salsa 39 Jody Cundy 19Samba 36 Pete Wicks 26Showdance 34Tango 33 Pete Wicks29Viennese Waltz Pete Wicks 31 Lawrence Robb 19 Waltz Hamza Yassin 37 Ross King 15
Series 20 – with celebrity partner Hamza Yassin
WeekDance & SongJudges' ScoreTotalResultHorwoodMabuseBallasDu Beke1 Foxtrot/"Islands in the Stream"8998No Elimination2Jive/"Blinding Lights"476724Safe3 Rumba/"Welcome to Jurassic Park"576725Safe4Salsa/"Ecuador"9101010Safe5Quickstep/"On Top of the World"8999Safe6Tango/"Wicked Game"898833Safe7Cha-cha-cha/"I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)"8101010Safe8Couple's Choice/"Jerusalema"810101038Safe9American Smooth/"New York, New York"99101038Safe10Argentine Tango/"Libertango"81010937Safe11Samba/"They Live in You"999936Safe12Charleston/"Pencil Full of Lead"Waltz/"What the World Needs Now Is Love"991010109109Safe13Salsa/"Ecuador"Showdance/"Let's Face The Music And Dance"Couple's Choice / "Jerusalema"9810109101081010910Winners
number indicates when Hamza & Jowita were at the top of the leaderboard. number indicates when Hamza & Jowita were at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Series 21 – with celebrity partner Jody Cundy
WeekDance & SongJudges' ScoreTotalResultHorwoodMabuseBallasDu Beke1Quickstep/"I'm Sitting on Top of the World"556521No Elimination2Paso Doble/"Thunderstruck"344516Safe3 American Smooth/"Married Life"4556Safe4Salsa/"Samba de Janeiro"3556Eliminated
number indicates when Jody & Jowita were at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Series 22 – with celebrity partner Pete Wicks
WeekDance & SongJudges' ScoreTotalResultHorwoodMabuseBallasDu Beke1Paso Doble/"Breathe"453517No Elimination2American Smooth/"I Had Some Help"466623Safe3Samba/"George of the Jungle"667726Safe4Quickstep/"Town Called Malice"778729Safe5Rumba/"Don't Look Back in Anger"456722Safe6Viennese waltz/"That's Life"788831Safe7Salsa/"Another One Bites the Dust"4666Safe8Couple's Choice/"The Best"8910936Safe9Cha-cha-cha/"I'm Too Sexy"4788Safe10Tango/"Easy Lover"Samba-thon / "Samba (Conga)" & "La Vida Es Un Carnaval"6Awarded738extra8pointsSafe11Waltz/"Somewhere"5777Safe12Foxtrot/"Beyond the Sea"Argentine Tango/ "Bitter Sweet Symphony"77889989Eliminated
number indicates when Pete & Jowita were at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Series 23 – with celebrity partner Ross King
WeekDance & SongJudges' ScoreTotalResultHorwoodMabuseBallasDu Beke1Cha-cha-cha/"California Gurls"2323No Elimination2Waltz/"Sunshine on Leith"244515Safe3Paso doble/"Thunderbirds Theme"4555 number indicates when Ross & Jowita were at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special She danced with Adrian Chiles for 2021's Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special. She danced with Danny Cipriani for the 2023 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special.
Dance tours In October 2025, Przystal announced she was to appear at Dancing With The Stars Weekends (2026).
References