Strictly Come Dancing Rewind: Series Four

It took 12 weeks of tense competition, but cricketer Mark Ramprakash emerged triumphant emulating his mate Darren Gough by winning Strictly Come Dancing. Over the series more than £1.5m was raised for BBC Children in Need. On the final night alone, more than 12 million people voted - a staggering endorsement of the popularity of this show. Here's a refresher of all the celebrities that took part.

 

 

 

Georgina Bouzova (professional partner was James Jordan)

The former Casualty actress agreed to take part in Strictly Come Dancing because, apart from some ballet lessons aged five, she had never learnt to dance. However, lack of experience didn't dent her confidence: "I'm going to win," she said at the time. "There's no point in doing it if you don't win." Apart from the opportunity of learning to dance, Georgina was, like all the girls who take part, looking forward to the glitz and glamour. Although seemingly brimming with confidence, there was one aspect of Strictly that Georgina wasn't looking forward to – the judges. Multi-talented in so many areas (she has a Law degree, can speak French and Czech and is a keen writer), she could only manage to get to week 4.

 

Claire King (professional partner was Brendan Cole)

Best known for playing Kim Tate in Emmerdale from 1988 to 1999 and Karen Betts in Bad Girls from 2000 to 2004, the TV superbitch was teamed with Strictly Come Dancing's very own bad boy, Brendan Cole. In her 20-year career, Claire has appeared in some of the UK's most popular programmes, including Dalziel and Pascoe, Holby City, Mayo, Doctors and Hollyoaks: In the City. She was attracted to Strictly because of the challenge of learning something new and a love of ballroom dancing. She was voted off in week 8.

 

 

Mica Paris (professional partner was Ian Waite)

Her 1988 Top Ten single, You Are My One Temptation, catapulted her into the spotlight, resulting in platinum-plus debut album sales for So Good. Mica has continued to have chart success and has collaborated with top writers and artists including Prince and Jools Holland. Mica's talents have also led her to star in West End musicals and she has presented a number of television and radio shows. The songstress is now host of the BBC's What Not to Wear was delighted to take part in Strictly Come Dancing as she loved watching Come Dancing as a child. "I was the only one of my friends who was interested in it, but I loved it." She didn't think she'd win Strictly, but she wanted a challenge. If Mica's dancing talent was on a par with her singing ability, she would've won Strictly Come Dancing. However, she was voted off in week 2.

Emma Bunton (professional partner was Darren Bennett)

The former Spice Girl is an avid Strictly Come Dancing fan and jumped at the chance to take part: "I love the people, the dances, the dresses – all of it! When I was a little girl I used to love dressing up and dancing around." Despite performing with the Spice Girls and as a solo artist, Emma had never done any ballroom or Latin dancing, or danced with a partner before. She was excited about the challenge. Although a seasoned performer, Emma still suffers from severe stage fright and was worried about falling over on live television, as she did a few times on stage with the Spice Girls. She started as the bookies' favourite to win, but ended up in third place. 

 

Jan Ravens (professional partner was Anton Du Beke)

Jan is probably best-known as all the female performances for Dead Ringers, both the TV and radio versions. She has also appeared as Janet Grimley in The Grimleys, Alistair McGowan's Big Impression and Bremner, Bird and Fortune. She was delighted to be taking part in Strictly Come Dancing as she'd always wanted to learn ballroom dance. At the time, she said of her decision to get involved: "This is dancing with a partner and the idea of humiliating myself on TV in front of millions of people seemed irresistible of course!" She lasted until week 5.

 

Carol Smillie (professional partner was Matthew Cutler)

Born in Glasgow, Carol's television career began in 1992 when she joined the presenting team for the BBC's Holiday programme, going on to co-present Wheel of Fortune. In 1996 Carol fronted the hugely successful DIY makeover show Changing Rooms, as well as presenting BBC's Summer Holiday, Holiday Swaps and The National Lottery Show. She was attracted to the "good old fashioned glitz and glamour" of Strictly Come Dancing. Carol admitted that she is never the first person on the dancefloor. She described her dancing experience as "absolutely none whatsoever". She went into the competition to get fit and learn something. She did very well, making it to week 9.

 

Ray Fearon (professional partner was Camilla Dallerup)

Best-known for his role as heartthrob mechanic Nathan Cooper in Coronation Street. His career has spanned stage and screen including ten years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, with whom he played most male leads including Othello, Hamlet and Romeo. He also stared as Firenze in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Ray Fearon was persuaded to take part in Strictly Come Dancing by his daughter who is a huge dance fan. "I wasn't going to do it but she persuaded me – she'd have never forgiven me if I hadn't agreed to do it!" He was also delighted to be performing 'on stage' again and learning a new skill: "Where else would I get a chance to learn all this?" Ray likes to exercise and keep fit but his dance experience was very limited, "other than back in the Eighties when dancing was such a large part of everyone's social life." Ray managed to stay on the show for six weeks.

 

Nicholas Owen (professional partner was Nicole Culter)

Journalist and ITV news presenter Nicholas Owen agreed to take part in Strictly Come Dancing because he loves a challenge. He had also always harboured a dream of learning to tap dance and hoped the show would be the springboard to taking it up. Nicholas' past dancing experience came from panto and dancing with his wife, Brenda, who he described as a brilliant dancer. Unfazed by the judges, Nicholas claimed that his biggest fear was making a fool of himself. He had no ambition to win: "I haven't got a competitive bone in my body!" he said at the time. "I have no expectations of hanging on after the first show – being there for the first one and the last one, when we can all have a jolly good knees-up, is enough for me." At least Nicholas was realistic - he was voted off in week 1. 

 

Peter Schmeichel (professional partner was Erin Boag)

Often described as the greatest goalkeeper in the history of Manchester United and, by some, as the greatest of all time, he was born in Gladsaxe, Denmark. He was a United supporter as a boy before Alex Ferguson spotted him and took him to Old Trafford in 1991. He retired from professional football in May 2003. The legendary goalkeeper took some persuading to take part in Strictly Come Dancing. However, after he attended a themed Strictly Come Dancing party, he decided he was definitely up for the challenge. He'd been looking for new ways to keep fit and decided that learning to dance could be quite useful. "I'm the kind of person that always needs a challenge. I need to be able to throw myself in at the deep end. It's in my nature to try and develop new things." He made it to week 7 despite little dance experience.

Mark Ramprakash (professional partner was Karen Hardy)

He made his name for Middlesex before playing for England. He then went on to join Surrey and became the first man to captain both Middlesex and Surrey. The Cricketer of the Year for 2006 has 2005's Strictly Come Dancing winner Darren Gough to thank for taking part in last year's Strictly series. He watched and supported Darren, loving the way he captured the public's imagination with his personality and dancing ability. "Darren made it 'legit' - he made it all about fun and taking yourself out of your comfort zone and seeing how you do." Other than nights out with friends, Mark had no dance experience but was looking forward to learning the Latin dances: "The Latin style is more exciting where you can have a bit of fun." As it turned out, Mark emulated his friend and won Strictly Come Dancing.

 

Louisa Lytton (professionl partner was Vincent Simone)

Best known as Ruby Allen in EastEnders, Louisa was a student at the Sylvia Young Theatre, where she studied singing, dance and drama. Other TV appearances include The Bill and various adverts. As the youngest of the celebrities that took part, she was determined not to let her age stand in the way: "All in all I hope to win, I'm quite competitive." She had done some dancing at drama school, but no ballroom or Latin dancing. She did incredibly well, making it to week 10 of the competition.

 

Matt Dawson MBE (professional partner was Lilia Kopylova)

The 2003 World Cup-winning rugby international is England's most-capped scrum half. Matt also enjoyed a successful club career with London Wasps and represented the British Lions on two tours. Matt retired from rugby at the end of the 2005-06 season. The former rugby England international entered Strictly Come Dancing to impress his girlfriend and continue a family tradition; his grandmother used to ballroom dance. Matt's only past experience of dancing came from "drunken boogies on a Saturday night!" However, as a professional sportsman, Matt's competitive edge came to the fore during Strictly Come Dancing. "I don't want to be first out; two or three weeks is enough, anything beyond that is a bonus." Perhaps exceeding his own expectations, Matt made it all the way to the final and was beaten into second place by fellow sportsman Ramprakash.   

 

Spoony (professional partner was Alexsandra 'Ola' Jordan)

Spoony's broadcasting career began on a local pirate radio station, from which he progressed to Kiss, Galaxy FM, and Radio 1. The Liverpool fan presents football phone-in 606 for BBC Radio Five Live. The renowned clubland DJ was a member of the Dreem Teem, DJing around the world and remixing tracks for Shola Ama, Faith Evans and All Saints amongst others. Spoony is also a keen golfer and organises The Annual Spoony Classic Golf Day at Stoke Park. He jumped at the chance to take part in Strictly. At the time, he admitted: "I really like dancing. I've seen the show and it looks amazing – plus I will be training with a purpose and learning from a professional." Spoony is, of course, no stranger to the dancefloor, although his experience comes from nightclubs rather than ballrooms. Eagle-eyed clubbers may spot him dancing in the DJ booth on his own. He made it to week 3 of the show.

 

Jimmy Tarbuck OBE (professional partner was Flavia Cacace)

Born in Liverpool, Jimmy made his television debut on Comedy Bandbox in 1962, and went on to appear and become resident compere on Sunday Night at the London Palladium, establishing himself as one of the nation's favourite entertainers. A long and varied a career on stage and screen has followed, including starring in Brazen Hussies and Linda Green (with his daughter, Liza) and hosting the BBC Bafta tribute to Bob Monkhouse. Jimmy was awarded the OBE for his services to show business and charity in 1994. Unfortunately, he was forced to withdraw from the competition for health reasons.