Ultimate Strictly

DENISE LEWIS

Sportswoman

Athlete Denise is a champion in the heptathlon, winning gold medals in European, Commonwealth and Olympic competitions. In 2000, Denise was awarded the OBE in the New Years Honours List, and was twice runner-up in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Denise took part in the second series of Strictly Come Dancing with Ian Waite as her professional partner. Denise's athletics background meant she had not only the fitness and ability to be coached, but she also had the competitive drive to strive for perfection. Denise's technique was extremely good, and throughout the competition only scored below 30 marks on one occasion, and that was for her Jive in week three, which she struggled with. The Jive is a dance that tall people often find difficult, and Denise was no exception, but after week three, she went from strength to strength, although ballroom was definitely the better discipline for her. Denise & Ian made it through to the series final, where they competed against Jill Halfpenny & Darren Bennett and Julian Clary & Erin Boag. They received their first 10's of the competition for their near perfect Quickstep, for which they earned 38 points in total - their highest score for the entire series, although they eventually finished as runners-up to Jill & Darren.

Strictly Come Dancing