Luba Mushtuk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Luba Mushtuk | |
|---|---|
Люба Муштук | |
 Mushtuk in 2024 | |
| Born | (1989-11-14) 14 November 1989 (age 36) |
| Occupations | Dancer and choreographer |
| Known for | Strictly Come Dancing |
Luba Mushtuk (Russian: Люба Муштук; born 14 November 1989[1]) is a Russian-British dancer and choreographer. Between 2018 and 2025, she appeared a professional dancer on the British dance competition show Strictly Come Dancing.
Mushtuk was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia.[2] When she was twelve she moved to Italy to dance. She announced on Instagram on November 20, 2023 that she had become a British citizen.
Career
Mushtuk is four-time Italian Dance Championship and an Italian Open Latin Show Dance champion. She came in second place in the European 10 Dance Championships and was a finalist at the Latin European Championships.[3]
Strictly Come Dancing
In 2018, the BBC announced that Mushtuk would join the cast of professional dancers on the British television show Strictly Come Dancing. She won the Children in Need special that year with the Irish singer Shane Lynch. She has also competed in the Christmas Special four times: with Jake Wood in 2018, Jay Blades in 2021, Rickie Haywood-Williams in 2022 and Nicholas Bailey in 2025.
In 2019, Mushtuk was partnered with the rower James Cracknell.[4] They were the first couple to be eliminated after losing the first dance-off to David James and Nadiya Bychkova. In 2020, she was partnered with the former NFL player and sports pundit, Jason Bell. They were the second couple to be eliminated after losing the second dance-off to Nicola Adams and Katya Jones.
After two series without a celebrity partner and participating only in the professional dances, she was partnered with the actor Adam Thomas for in 2023.[4] They were the sixth couple to be eliminated after losing the fifth dance-off to Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington. In 2024, she was partnered with TV presenter Nick Knowles They were the third couple to be eliminated after losing the dance off to Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu. Mushtuk did not receive a partner for the twenty-third series, and it was subsequently revealed the following year that she would be departing the show along with several other professional dancers. Speaking on her exit, Mushtuk thanked the show for "the amazing opportunity and unforgettable memories" and said "it [had] truly meant the world to [her]".[5]
| Series | Partner | Place | Average Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | James Cracknell | 15th | 12.0 |
| 18 | Jason Bell | 11th | 20.3 |
| 21 | Adam Thomas | 9th | 27.3 |
| 22 | Nick Knowles | 13th | 20.0 |
Highest and lowest scoring per dance
| Dance | Partner | Highest | Partner | Lowest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Smooth | Adam Thomas | 32 | Jason Bell Nick Knowles |
21 |
| Cha-cha-cha | Adam Thomas | 19 | ||
| Charleston | Nick Knowles | 21 | ||
| Couple's Choice | Adam Thomas | 32 | ||
| Jive | Adam Thomas | 26 | James Cracknell | 13 |
| Paso Doble | Jason Bell | 16 | ||
| Rumba | Adam Thomas | 27 | ||
| Salsa | Jason Bell | 24 | ||
| Tango | Adam Thomas | 23 | James Cracknell | 11 |
| Waltz | Adam Thomas | 32 |
- Red numbers indicate Luba and her partner were at the bottom of the leaderboard that week.
Series 17
Celebrity partner: James Cracknell
| Week No. | Dance/Song | Judges' score[a] | Total | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tango / "Gold" | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 11 | No Elimination |
| 2 | Jive / "Tutti Frutti" | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 13 | Eliminated |
Series 18
Celebrity partner: Jason Bell
| Week No. | Dance/Song | Judges' score[b] | Total | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | American Smooth / "My Girl" | 4 | 6 | 6 | 16 | No Elimination |
| 2 | Salsa / "Get Lucky" | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 | Safe |
| 3 | Paso Doble / "Star Wars Theme" | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 | Eliminated |
Series 21
Celebrity partner: Adam Thomas
| Week No. | Dance/Song | Judges' score[c] | Total | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cha-cha-cha / "Waffle House" | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 19 | No Elimination |
| 2 | Tango / "Somebody Told Me" | 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 23 | Safe |
| 3 | Jive / "Take On Me" | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 26 | Safe |
| 4 | Waltz / "I Wonder Why" | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 32 | Safe |
| 5 | Couple's Choice / "Backstreet Boys medley" | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 32 | Safe |
| 6 | American Smooth / "Magic Moments" | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 32 | Bottom two |
| 7 | Rumba / "Dancing on My Own" | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 | Eliminated |
Series 22
Celebrity partner: Nick Knowles
| Week No. | Dance/Song | Judges' score[d] | Total | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jive / "We Built This City" | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 18 | No Elimination |
| 2 | American Smooth / "Parklife" | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 21 | Safe |
| 4[e] | Charleston / "Rain on the Roof" | 4 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 21 | Eliminated |
Notes
- ↑ Individual judges' scores are listed in the following order: Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas, Bruno Tonioli.
- ↑ Individual judges' scores are listed in the following order: Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas.
- ↑ Individual judges' scores are listed in the following order: Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke.
- ↑ Individual judges' scores are listed in the following order: Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke.
- ↑ Knowles suffered an injury and was unable to compete in Week 3. He was given a bye through to Week 4 and due to the limited training time, allowed to perform the Charleston they were supposed to dance the previous week.
References
- ↑ Mushtuk, Luba (14 November 2020). "Oh yes, I'm walking into my 31st birthday hair flicking my hair (obviously)😋 , happy , grateful and proud of who and where I am today🙌🏼🙏🏻❤️ So happy to be here with my @bbcstrictly family . Tune in tonight for an amazing show at 19.10 on @bbcone !!! And thank you so much for all your kind messages , presents and time ! I really appreciate it ❤️ #birthdaygirl". Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved 9 September 2021 – via Instagram.
- ↑ "Who is Luba Mushtuk? Strictly Come Dancing's new professional dancer revealed". HELLO!. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ↑ "BBC Strictly Dancers - Luba Mushtuk". Archived from the original on 29 Sep 2022. Retrieved 29 Sep 2022.
- 1 2 "Strictly Come Dancing 2019: The full list of couples". British Telecom. 7 September 2019. Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
- ↑ "Strictly Come Dancing hit by another exit as a third professional quits". The Independent. 27 March 2026. Retrieved 29 March 2026.