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STRICTLY Come Dancing is one of the most popular shows on the BBC and that popularity comes with a huge pay cheque for the professionals.

All the dancers earn a flat fee of £50,000, regardless of performance, but appearances in productions all over the world means many top up their finances.

 AJ Pritchard tops the list of highest paid dancers on Strictly
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AJ Pritchard tops the list of highest paid dancers on StrictlyCredit: Guy Levy/BBC

Meanwhile, the judges are paid hundreds of thousands of pounds and their businesses can make them up to a million.

But who is the top earner? The has delved into the pay cheques of the dancers, judges and presenters to find out who the real winner of the show is.

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Gorka Marquez - £105,000

 Gorka is one of the lower paid stars
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Gorka is one of the lower paid starsCredit: Lia Toby/Getty Images

Like all the professional dancers, Gorka earns £50,000 for appearing on the show, then an extra £35,000 for participating in Strictly Come Dancing: The Professionals tour.

He also earned £20,000 for spin-off stage show Here Come The Boys.

Anton Du Beke - £172,000

 Anton is a fan favourite but that's not reflected in his pay
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Anton is a fan favourite but that's not reflected in his payCredit: Lia Toby/Getty Images

Anton received £65,000 from his own tour with professional partner Erin Boag, topping up his £50,000 from Strictly.

He doesn't do the Strictly tour, but he does appear at Dancing With The Stars weekends at Alton Towers, receiving £12,000. He also released a book, One Enchanted Evening, which netted £45,000.

Aljaz Skorjanec and Janette Manrara - £290,000

 The couple both contribute to their money pot
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The couple both contribute to their money potCredit: SOPA Images Limited/Alamy Live

Aljaz and Janette are married, so they both contribute £50,000 each to the family pot. Between them, their appearance on the Strictly tour nets them £140,000.

They gained £30,000 from a short P&O cruise and Aljaz appeared on Here Come The Boys dance tour for another £20,000.

Motsi Mabuse - £325,000

 The newest Strictly judge is a big earner
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The newest Strictly judge is a big earnerCredit: Ray Burmiston/BBC/PA Wire

The newest judge on the line up isn't the worst paid - as she earns £200,000 for a season on the show. Her appearance on Germany's version, Let's Dance, nets £75,000.

In Germany she is the face of Weight Waters, so gets £50,000 and she also makes money from her dance school in the country, which she runs with her husband Evgenij Voznyuk.

Katya and Neil Jones - £334,000

 Theyve now split, but before they racked up a lot of money
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Theyve now split, but before they racked up a lot of moneyCredit: Mike Marsland/WireImage

The pair are divorcing now but when they were together the couple made £100,000 on Strictly topped with another £50,000 from their stage show Somnium. They also appear on the Professionals tour, netting £70,000.

Three P&O Cruise appearances in the summer earned them £90,000 and dance weekends at Alton Towers gives £12,000 each.

Kevin Clifton - £350,000

 Kevin Clifton won last year's Strictly Come Dancing
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Kevin Clifton won last year's Strictly Come DancingCredit: Lia Toby/Getty Images

While he didn't take part in the Strictly tour last year - meaning he only got the £50,000 for his winning turn on the show - he got money from other projects, such as £80,000 on ITV show All Star Musicals.

His starring turn on Burn The Floor and Rock Of Ages racked up £10,000 a week for 20 weeks thanks to his name being "above the title", so tickets were sold off the back of his name.

AJ Pritchard - £360,000

 AJ Pritchard is the highest earning professional earner in the show
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AJ Pritchard is the highest earning professional earner in the showCredit: Ian West/PA Wire
Strictly's Shirley Ballas is attacked by a bug as Bruno Tonioli swats it away

Young AJ is the highest earner out of all the dancers and racked up the majority of his money from TV appearances, gaining £120,000. In the future, being a trainer for RuPaul's Drag Race UK will give him even more cash.

The Strictly Live Tour gives him another £70,000 and the Strictly Come Dancing: The Professionals tour is another £35,000.

Shirley Ballas - £500,000

 The head judge gets a big pay packet
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The head judge gets a big pay packetCredit: Ray Burmiston/BBC/PA Wire

The head judge recently had a pay rise to £250,000 per series and she also participated in the Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour last year, which gave her a further £100,000.

Like much of the dancers, she earns a lot of cash from pantomime (£100,000) and her appearances on TV shows gained her an extra £50,000.

Tess Daly - £570,000

 Tess has hosted the show since it began
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Tess has hosted the show since it beganCredit: Karwai Tang/WireImage

Tess and Claudia earn the same amount of money for their co-presenting duties - £150,000 per series. Her work for the BBC, which includes presenting Children In Need, garners another £170,000.

Her duties as the ambassador for a vitamin brand and Under 18s horse racing days give her another £250,000.

Craig Revel Horwood - £650,000

 Craig is reportedly not happy about his pay on the show
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Craig is reportedly not happy about his pay on the showCredit: Ray Burmiston/BBC/PA Wire

The razor-tongued judge has been on the show since it started in 2004 but is still the lowest paid judge, with a pay cheque of £180,000. On the other hand, the Strictly tour - which he choreographs - gives him a massive £200,000 a year.

Australian Strictly gives him £125,000 and he does panto for £100,000. Outside of performances, he was paid £156,000 from his company Acid Clutch Productions and earns money from renting out his London home.

Claudia Winkleman - £829,000

 Claudia is one of the highest paid stars in the BBC
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Claudia is one of the highest paid stars in the BBCCredit: Lia Toby/Getty Images

Claudia is the best paid woman at the BBC, earning £370,000 in total (which includes her £150,000 fee for Strictly), with the rest coming from her radio show and any other projects.

Her beauty endorsements rack up £250,000 from Head & Shoulders and £200,000 from Boots as an ambassador for No 7.

Bruno Tonioli - £1.85million

 Bruno makes the most out of anyone
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Bruno makes the most out of anyoneCredit: Ray Burmiston/BBC/PA Wire

Bruno racks up the most cash from anyone in the show. He is paid £250,000 per season for Strictly, though his judging role on Dancing With The Stars nets him £1.5million per season. The Strictly Tour gets another £100,000.

He still gets money from a 2012 autobiography and he presented a BBC Radio 2 series on opera last year. He is a director at Fulvia Limited, which has £2.27million, so he'll likely get a decent salary.


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