Luba Mushtuk

Luba Mushtuk
Люба Муштук
Born (1989-11-14) 14 November 1989 (age 35)
Leningrad, RSFSR, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russia)
Occupation(s)Dancer and choreographer
Known forStrictly Come Dancing

Luba Mushtuk (Russian: Люба Муштук; born 14 November 1989[1]) is a Russian-British dancer and choreographer.

Early life

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 was four-time winner of the Italian Dance Championship and is also 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] 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 2018 Children in Need special with Shane Lynch. She also competed in the 2018 Christmas special, paired with EastEnders actor and Strictly Come Dancing 2014 contestant, Jake Wood. She danced with Jay Blades for the 2021 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special. She danced with Rickie Haywood-Williams for the 2022 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special.

For series 17 of Strictly, Mushtuk was partnered with rower James Cracknell.[4] They were the first couple to be eliminated after losing the first dance-off to David James and Nadiya Bychkova.

For series 18, she was partnered with 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 2 years in the dance troupe, she was partnered with actor Adam Thomas for series 21.[4] They were the sixth couple to be eliminated after losing the fifth dance-off to Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington. For series 22 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.

Strictly Come Dancing results

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

Performances with James Cracknell

Week # Dance / Song Judges' score Result
Horwood Mabuse Ballas Tonioli Total
1 Tango / "Gold" 2 3 3 3 11 No Elimination
2 Jive / "Tutti Frutti" 3 3 3 4 13 Eliminated

Performances with Jason Bell

Week # Dance / Song Judges' score Result
Horwood Ballas Mabuse Total
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

Performances with Adam Thomas

Week # Dance / Song Judges' score Result
Horwood Mabuse Ballas Du Beke Total
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

Performances with Nick Knowles

Nick Knowles suffered an injury and did not compete in Week 3. Therefore, he was given a bye to Week 4. Due to little time to train, they were allowed to perform the Charleston they were supposed to dance in week 3.

Week # Dance / Song Judges' score Result
Horwood Mabuse Ballas Du Beke Total
1 Jive / "We Built This City" 3 5 5 5 18 No Elimination
2 American Smooth / "Parklife" 5 5 5 6 21 Safe
4 Charleston / "Rain on the Roof" 4 6 5 6 21 Eliminated

References

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "Who is Luba Mushtuk? Strictly Come Dancing's new professional dancer revealed". HELLO!. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  3. ^ "BBC Strictly Dancers - Luba Mushtuk". Archived from the original on 29 Sep 2022. Retrieved 29 Sep 2022.
  4. ^ a b "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.