I Just Learned Strictly Come Dancing's Prize Is Fake, And I'll Never Look At It The Same Way

Fans of Strictly Come Dancing will probably already have their favourites to win this year’s series. 

Still, there’s everything to dance for as we have a couple of months left before we see a lucky couple lift the Glitterball trophy.

However, I recently found out ― much to my cha-cha-chagrin ― that the winners don’t take that the sparkling trophy we see them holding on the telly home. 

Yup, all that tango for nothing (well, not quite nothing, but not the glitzy Orb of Honour we all think they can pop on their mantlepiece). 

Speaking on Sunday Brunch in 2011, winner Harry Judd spilled the beans, revealing: ” They give you the big Glitterball and then they take it straight off you and give you this tiny little one.”

Yes, apparently the Glitterball we see on screen is more of an in-studio statue than a real prize champions can bring back with them.

Former winner Ore Oduba even showed off his mini version of the trophy on This Morning, telling the presenters he only got his mitts on the Big Glitterball for a short while.

“I only got five seconds with it to lift it and then they just whisked it off!” he admitted. “That was the only time we got to touch it.”

Meanwhile, reigning champion Ellie Leach apparently broke her replica a measly two weeks after winning.

“I didn’t want to carry it and be like ‘oh here I go’, so it was in my bag and it broke,” she said after bashing the not-quite-Glitterball on the train home to Manchester.

Fortunately, she’s since shared that her dad “took it to his shed and he’s fixed it all up”.

Phew!

OK! reports that that means the trophy we see in the series’ 20th anniversary is the same as the one featured in Strictly’s 2004 debut. 

And the fandango quest isn’t totally fruitless, as every winner’s name is inscribed on a plaque at the base of the trophy.

If you’re thinking “hang on, but won’t the trophy run out of space?” it seems the BBC began giving it an even bigger base in 2019.

The Express reports that celeb winners don’t just leave with a boosted profile and jacked legs, though. 

Apparently, the winning star takes home a cool £100,000, though this has never been confirmed by the BBC. We also don’t know what the pros get if they win.

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday night at 6.20pm on BBC One. The results show airs the following night at 7.20 pm.