Tasha Ghouri deserved Strictly Come Dancing’s first 10s of 2024 - but don’t write off the underdogs yet

The former Love Island star’s score was well-earned but this year’s Strictly Come Dancing isn’t short of contestants who could cause an upset, writes Rachel McGrath

Tasha Ghouri performed a Coachella-themed Charleston (BBC/Guy Levy)

There are milestones to watch out for in every series of Strictly Come Dancing and this week’s episode saw a key one ticked off as the first 10s were awarded.

Former Love Island star Tasha Ghouri has impressed the judges every time she’s stepped on the dancefloor and her Coachella-themed Charleston to “Unhealthy” by Anne-Marie and Shania Twain left three of them reaching for their 10 paddles (Craig Revel Horwood, of course, gave her a nine).

But scoring the first 10s of the series is far from a guarantee that a celebrity will get their hands on the Glitterball trophy. And for the last two years, the person to do so hasn’t even made it to the final.

Comedian Eddie Kadi and pro partner Karen Hauer landed the first 10 of Strictly 2023 for their Men In Black-themed Movie Week dance, only to leave the competition three weeks later.

In 2022, Tyler West and Dianne Buswell scored two 10s in Movie Week but missed out on the final. That series was won by wildlife presenter Hamza Yassin, whose Strictly journey saw him go from being one of the least-known celebrities on the call sheet to one of the show’s most beloved stars.

It was a similar story in 2021 when two celebrities scored 10s in – yes, you guessed it – Movie Week. CBBC star Rhys Stephenson got the first before former Great British Bake Off contestant John Whaite landed three later in the episode. Only the latter made it to the final, where he was beaten to the Glitterball trophy by EastEnders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis.

This isn’t to say Tasha won’t succeed on Strictly. She’s a phenomenal dancer with a wonderful personality to match and it would be a real shock if she didn’t make it to the final. But she’d do well to watch out for the underdogs - and this year’s series has plenty.

Most notably, there’s Chris McCausland. The comedian delivered the first proper ‘wow’ moment of tonight’s show with his and Dianne Buswell’s lift-packed salsa, undeniably made even more impressive as he’s blind.

“I can’t even imagine how you managed to do that so flawlessly when you can’t see,” Shirley Ballas said. “On top of that, you kept to your music, you didn’t miss a beat. I’m telling you from my heart, that is absolutely impressive.”

Opera singer Wynne Evans is also steadily improving and finished joint second on the leaderboard this week, thanks to his fantastically camp tango to ABBA’s “Money, Money, Money”. Addressing how he’s found the show so far, he quipped to Claudia Winkleman: “I found my ribs this week, not seen them since 1987.”

Even Paul Merson and Pete Wicks have shown they shouldn’t be written off just yet, with the TOWIE star going from almost bottom of the leaderboard to nearly mid-table. And after all, there’s nothing viewers love more than a classic Strictly journey.