Who are the Strictly Come Dancing judges?

STRICTLY Come Dancing judges provide praise and criticism for the celebrity contestants.

Last year's judges will be returning for the 2022 series.

Who are the judges on Strictly Come Dancing 2022?

The Strictly Come Dancing judging panel has changed a few times over the years.

It started with Craig Revel-Horwood, Bruno Tonioli, Arlene Phillips and Len Goodman.

Here we reveal the FULL Strictly judging panel lineup for the 2022 series.

Shirley Ballas

Shirley Ballas is a ballroom dancer from Merseyside and is head judge.

She made her first appearance on the Strictly panel in 2017, taking over from Len Goodman.

Shirley specialises in Latin dance and her success at championships earned her the nickname The Queen of Latin.

Motsi Mabuse

Motsi Mabuse was revealed as Darcey Bussell's replacement on the hit show back in 2019.

The South African star is the older sister of former Strictly pro Oti

Before Strictly, Motsi was a judge on the German version of Strictly, called Let’s Dance, which Oti danced on for two series.

Craig Revel Horwood

Craig Revel Horwood was born in Victoria, Australia.

He is famed for his choreography and directing.

Craig is the show's only original judges, having joined the show when it first started back in 2004.

Anton Du Beke

Anton Du Beke joined Strictly as a pro dancer for the very first series.

After many years on the show, he was final promoted to the judging panel in 2021.

Anton was brought in to replace Bruno Tonioli.

Who has previously been a judge on Strictly Come Dancing?

Bruno Tonioli

Bruno Tonioli is an Italian dancer and choreographer from Ferrara., Italy

He was a judge on Strictly from when the show aired its first series in 2004 until 2020.

These days he is on the panel of the US version Dancing With The Stars.

Bruno has choreographed routines for many stars including Tina Turner, Elton John and Boy George.

Arlene Phillips

Arlene Phillips was an original judge, but was replaced by Alesha in 2009.

After leaving the show she became a judge on another popular dance show, So You Think You Can Dance?.

In 2021, she took part in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here.

Len Goodman

Len Goodman retired as the head judge from Strictly in 2016.

His final appearance was on the Christmas Day special.

He is a professional ballroom dancer and runs a dance school in Dartford, Kent.

He has also been a head judge on the US version Dancing With The Stars since 2005.

Len also graced our screens in BBC Four's Dancing Cheek to Cheek: An Intimate History of Dance.

Darcey Bussell

Darcey Bussell announced she would not be returning for the 2019 series.

The dancer reassured fans that she was leaving to "give more focus to my many other commitments in dance" and not "because of any upset or disagreement at all".

In the  post, she said: "It has been a complete privilege for me to be part of Strictly, working with such a talented team."

Alesha Dixon

In series five Alesha won the competition and returned as a judge from 2009 to 2011.

She left Strictly to join the panel of ITV talent show Britain's Got Talent.

Alesha shot to fame in the girl band Mis-Teeque and has never looked back.

Guest judges

• In series nine American actress Jennifer Grey who played Baby in Dirty Dancing acted as a guest judge.
• In 2012 Donny Osmond also made an appearance as a guest judge.
• Alfonso Ribeiro also has stepped in for Bruno Tonioli for a week while he guest judged on Dancing with the Stars in the US.