On Monday we received the excellent news that, after receiving a bye, Delta will be able to perform again on the Strictly dancefloor this week. On many past occasions contestants have been forced to withdraw after receiving the bye, so in this week’s article I thought I would look back at the few who were able to return.

By the bye

Series Contestant Week of the bye Reason for bye Professional partner
s8 Tina O’Brien wk3 Chickenpox Jared
s11 Natalie Gumede wk7 Exhaustion/Back Artem
s14 Laura Whitmore wk5 Ankle Giovanni
s19 Tom Fletcher wk2 Covid Amy
s19 Ugo Monye wk4 Back Oti
s19 Judi Love wk5 Covid Graziano
s20 Kym Marsh wk10 Covid Graziano
s22 Nick Knowles wk3 Shoulder/arm Luba
s23 Stefan Dennis wk3 Illness Dianne
s24 Delta Goodrem wk4 Rib Kai
  • Delta becomes the tenth contestant to return from a bye
  • After only three occurrences in the first 18 series, we have now had seven bye-returnees in the last six series
  • Eight of the ten byes were awarded in the early part of the series (weeks 2-5)
  • Half of the byes were awarded after a physical injury, and half due to an infection or illness

Out of order?

Next, I looked at what dance style contestants returned to after their bye, and which running order position did they perform in?

Series Contestant Dance style Running order
s8 Tina O’Brien Charleston 3rd (out of 12)
s11 Natalie Gumede Charleston 9th (out of 9)
s14 Laura Whitmore Tango 6th (out of 10)
s19 Tom Fletcher Jive 10th (out 14)
s19 Ugo Monye Rumba 7th (out of 10)
s19 Judi Love Cha Cha 9th (out of 10)
s20 Kym Marsh Cha Cha 3rd (out of 6)
s22 Nick Knowles Charleston 3rd (out of 13)
s23 Stefan Dennis Charleston 4th (out of 13)
s24 Delta Goodrem Rumba ??
  • Four of the ten returnees came back to perform a Charleston, which feels like one of the more challenging styles to learn when returning to fitness!
  • Only one contestant came back to dance a ballroom routine (Laura)
  • I had expected to see that returnees performed either at the start of the show (to allow them to relax after dancing) or at the end of the show (giving them some extra minutes to practice). Instead, there is no real consistent pattern, although each of the last three returnees have performed 3rd or 4th in the running order, so perhaps Delta can expect to dance relatively early this week.

Receiving a booster shot?

I then looked to see how well each contestant scored on their return, and how this compared to their previous performance.

Series Contestant Average score pre-bye First score received post-bye Scoring boost
s8 Tina O’Brien 25.0 29 +4.0
s11 Natalie Gumede 34.8 39 +4.2
s14 Laura Whitmore 30.0 36 +6.0
s19 Tom Fletcher 21.0 32 +11.0
s19 Ugo Monye 24.7 20 -4.7
s19 Judi Love 24.3 25 +0.7
s20 Kym Marsh 30.8 34 +3.2
s22 Nick Knowles 19.5 21 +1.5
s23 Stefan Dennis 19.5 26 +6.5
s24 Delta Goodrem 30.7 ?? ??
  • Eight out of nine returnees received a scoring boost in their first performance back on the dancefloor
  • The average ‘score boost’ for returnees was +3.6 points. This suggests that, given her high scores so far, Delta could be on course to receive a score in the mid-thirties this week

Gone… but not forgotten?

Finally, I looked at the outcomes of our returnees in their first week back, and how long they eventually remained in the competition.

Series Contestant Weekly leaderboard position in first week post-bye Outcome in first week post-bye Weeks performed post-bye before leaving
s8 Tina O’Brien =5th (out of 12) Safe 2
s11 Natalie Gumede =1st (out of 9) Safe 6*
s14 Laura Whitmore =1st (out of 10) Safe 2
s19 Tom Fletcher 5th (out of 14) Safe 7
s19 Ugo Monye 10th (out of 10) Eliminated 1
s19 Judi Love 9th (out of 10) Eliminated 1
s20 Kym Marsh 6th (out of 6) Eliminated 1
s22 Nick Knowles 12th (out of 13) Eliminated 1
s23 Stefan Dennis =10th (out of 13) Safe 1**
s24 Delta Goodrem ?? ?? ??

* Natalie made it all the way to the series 11 final

** Stefan was ‘saved’ on his initial return, but had to withdraw the following week after picking up a calf injury

  • Delta will be aiming to become the third contestant to immediately top the leaderboard on their return (following Natalie & Laura)
  • Incredibly, seven of the nine contestants who received a bye left the show within two weeks of their return

Summing up…

So, the outcomes of our previous bye-returnees paint a mixed picture overall. The judges are likely to be sympathetic and provide you with a scoring boost on your return. It appears however, that Strictly viewers are harder to please, and if the judges were to place a returnee in leaderboard danger, the viewers are far from guaranteed to come to your rescue via the public vote.