Strictly Come Dancing Rewind: Series Five

It took 14 weeks of tense competition, but singer Alesha Dixon emerged triumphant, beating former EastEnders actor Matt Di Angelo in a public vote. Both performed five dances with their professional partners but Alesha, the bookies' favourite, triumphed with partner Matthew Cutler. "It was worth all the bruises, all the lack of sleep, all the painful cuts and sore joints, all the tears and all the 380 hours of training," she said. About 11.4 million viewers saw their victory - a staggering endorsement of the popularity of this show. Here's a refresher of all the celebrities that took part.

 

 

John Barnes (professional partner was Nicole Cutler)

The hugely successful English footballer of the 1980s and 90s racked up an impressive 752 appearances for four clubs scoring 562 goals. In 1997, he left Liverpool football club to join former team mate and manager Kenny Dalglish at Newcastle United before joining Charlton Athletic. In the summer of 1999, John joined Scottish giants Celtic as Head Coach but he had a disastrous spell there. Following retirement, John went into the business of football punditry and commentary. He lasted until week eight of Strictly Come Dancing.

Brian Capron (professional partner was Karen Hardy)

His acting career spans over 35 years and although he made a name for himself as Stuart 'Hoppy' Hopwood' on Grange Hill, one role is likely to define him. Will Brian Capron be able to escape the role of deranged suburban serial killer Richard Hillman in Coronation Street? Time alone will tell. He has also appeared as Ozias Harding in ITV1's Where the Heart Is and toured the UK and starred in the West End as the narrator in the musical The Rocky Horror Show. In 2003, he won Best Actor, Best Exit and Villain Of The Year at the British Soap Awards. The same year he was also nominated for the Most Popular Actor at the National Television Awards. Poor Brian was the first celebrity voted off 2007's show.

Matt Di Angelo (professional partner was Flavia Cacace)

Best known for playing Deano Wicks in EastEnders, he was a student at the Sylvia Young Theatre School and before EastEnders, he started his career modelling and in commercials. In 2000, he starred as Robbie in the TV drama series Harbour Lights and in 2005 in the film Telling Lies where he played Derek. In 2006, Matt was nominated for the Sexiest Male at the British Soap Awards. He pushed Alesha Dixon all the way but finished as runner-up.

 
Gethin Jones (professional partner was Camilla Dallerup)

The former presenter of the iconic children's BBC television show Blue Peter was the surprise package of Strictly Come Dancing 2007. Some of his varied Blue Peter highlights include flying with the Red Arrows, being attacked by an alligator in Louisiana and fighting as a Samurai Warrior in Japan. Before Gethin joined Blue Peter, he started his presenting career on children's programmes for S4C, the Welsh television channel. He did extremely well, finishing in third place.

 

Kenny Logan (professional partner was Aleksandra (Ola) Jordan)

Famous for being a Rugby Union footballer, he played wing for London Scottish and Scotland. Kenny gained his first cap for Scotland against Australia in 1992 aged 20. Having won 70 caps over 13 years, he retired from international rugby union after the 2003 World Cup. Married to sports presenter and fellow celebrity dancer Gabby Logan, their appearance marked the first time a husband and wife competed against each other. In a most unexpected result, Kenny lasted longer than his spouse; he was voted off in week 9.

Dominic Littlewood (professional partner was Lilia Kopylova)

He worked in the new and used car business in Essex until his cheeky and charismatic personality caught the eyes of TV producers who gave him his first TV appearance on Channel 4's Faking It. He has presented To Buy Or Not To Buy (BBC One), How I Made My Property Fortune (BBC Two), Beat The Burglar (BBC One) and Don't Get Done, Get Do (BBC One). He can currently be seen reporting on BBC One's The One Show. Dominic lasted until week 5.

Willie Thorne (professional partner was Erin Boag)

The former professional snooker player has turned commentator. Throughout his playing career, he enjoyed success, gaining a total of no fewer than 14 tournament victories worldwide. Willie managed to get into the record books for the highest number of 147 breaks in the history of snooker (190) earning him the nickname 'Mr Maximum'. He was the second male celeb voted off the show after Brian Capron.

Kate Garraway (professional partner was Anton Du Beke)

Her career started in BBC Radio as a reporter. She later moved to work as a production journalist and reporter with Central Television News, Meridian, BBC News 24 and Sky. Kate has been with GMTV since September 2000 but has also presented the ITV cookery programme Too Many Cooks and appeared on BBC Two's Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Poor Kate had a torrid time on Strictly Come Dancing and an ankle injury didn't help. The more the judges mauled her, the more the public backed her. Kate did well to last as long as she did until her week 7 exit.

 

Stephanie Beacham (professional partner was Vincent Simone)

Best known for her role as Sable Colby in the popular Eighties soaps Dynasty and The Colbys, Stephanie Beacham trained at RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) and has enjoyed a prolific and enduring acting career in television, film and theatre. Recently, she starred in popular ITV prison drama Bad Girls and played the part of Felcity Wentworth in the feature film Love And Other Disasters alongside Brittany Murphy, Catherine Tate, Matthew Ryhs, Gwyneth Paltrow and Orlando Bloom. Stephanie was unfortunate to be the first female celeb voted off the show as many thought Letitia Dean should've gone instead.

Kelly Brook (professional partner was Brendan Cole)

She's famous for her successful career in presenting, acting and modelling. Her breakthrough into mainstream presenting came in 1999 when she was chosen to present The Big Breakfast alongside Johnny Vaughan. After leaving The Big Breakfast Kelly went on to present disastrous reality television programme Celebrity Love Island. She landed her first Hollywood role in The (Mis) Adventures Of Fiona Plum, and was then offered the role of Victoria Hardwick, girlfriend of Clark Kent/Superman's best friend Lex Luthor, in Smallville. Kelly's first starring role in a feature film was in 2004 when she played Italian seductress Sophia in School For Seduction. She has gone on to play lead roles in House Of 9 with Dennis Hopper, Absolon with Christopher Lambert, Three with Billy Zane and Fishtales where she plays a Mermaid. She has also starred in a Miss Marple drama for ITV and was a guest star in BBC Television drama Hotel Babylon. Kelly's time on Strictly Come Dancing was cut short by the death of her father.

 
Letitia Dean (professional partner was Darren Bennett)

You'd have to be living on Mars not to know who this actress is. She's best known for her long-running role as Sharon Watts in EastEnders. However, like so many others in Albert Square, she started off her career in Grange Hill. After leaving EastEnders in 1995, Letitia went on to star in numerous theatre and television productions including: The Hello Girls, Casualty, Doctors, The Bill, Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married, Drop The Dead Donkey and the 1995 film England, My England. Six years after her initial exit from EastEnders Letitia was lured back to the soap where she reprised the role of Sharon Watts from 2001 to 2004 and again from 2005 to 2006. In 2005, Letitia was presented with the coveted award for outstanding achievement at the Inside Soap Awards, as homage to her work in EastEnders in which she has been starring for over 20 years, since the age of 17. Letitia did very well on Strictly Come Dancing, lasting until week 10. 

 
Alesha Dixon (professional partner was Matthew Cutler)

Her career began in 1999 when she was one third of the trio that became popular UK garage/R&B girl band, Mis-Teeq. Alesha went on to guest present the music shows CD:UK and CD:UK Hotshots for ITV. A popular TV personality, she was one of the presenters of the ITV2's Brit Awards coverage. She also appeared as a guest judge on Comic Relief Does Fame Academy and Channel 4's reality TV show Musicool. Alesha distinguished herself week after week and was the bookies' favourite to win. During the final, Judge Craig Revel Horwood hailed the waltz she performed with Matthew Cutler as "flawless" and said it had given him "goose-bumps". As her win was announced, Alesha looked overwhelmed and began crying.

Penny Lancaster-Stewart (professional partner was Ian Waite)

The freelance photographer, model and actress wowed with her looks more than her dancing. After finding success as a model Penny decided to take a photography course and after graduating undertook assignments for magazines and newspapers. She followed this with fashion and beauty assignments for women's magazines as well as numerous features for Australian magazines. During 2005, Penny made her highly successful West End debut in Tonight's The Night. This was followed by a television role playing opposite Neil Morrissey in Elixir Man. Penny is married to rock star Rod Stewart and lasted until week 6 of the show.

Gabby Logan (professional partner was James Jordan)

A former international gymnast, Gabby Logan's career came to notice when she fronted On The Ball for ITV in 1998. After a career with ITV which included presenting the Premiership, the World Cup coverage, the Rugby World Cup and UEFA Champions League Football coverage, Gaby moved to the BBC in January 2007 to present various sports and radio shows. Her life is dominated by sport on and off the screen – as well as being married to former Scotland international rugby player and fellow celebrity dancer Kenny Logan, she is the daughter of former Wales international football player and manager Terry Yorath. In what was the biggest shock of the 2007 competition, Gabby Logan was voted off in week 4.