Research Proves How To Build The Perfect Strictly Come Dancing Champion

If you're a celebrity invited to take part in Strictly Come Dancing there are probably some big things that immediately play on your mind: will you get injured and miss the show entirely? Will the supposed Strictly Curse strike again and make you tabloid fodder? Could you maybe win the thing?

The first two are hard to call, but there's some research to suggest what makes you more likely to be a champion beyond just your dancing skills.

According to a recent study, viewers are more likely to vote for you if you are a TV star (particularly if you work on soaps) and if you're in your 20s. There's also a suggestion unsurprisingly that the best dancers do well, but people with the highest social media following won't necessarily guarantee victory.

You'd think the latter point would be more telling, given the potential to activate a huge social media following and getting them to ring in votes in their droves, but in a surprising revelation, the highest followed celebrity on any Strictly line-up has never finished higher than fourth.

So, basically, if you've had some early interest for next year's show - or if you're looking for tips on who to put some money on to win - if you're a young star of Emmerdale with some dancing experience and a reasonable but not massive social following, you could be quids in.

For more tips, popstars do pretty well, celebrities over 70 do badly and being terrible doesn't automatically mean you'll come last. If you're called Anne Widdicombe or Ed Balls.