From February 23, RTL dances wildly every Friday night. Then the 17th season of “Let's Dance” begins. Once again, the jury around Joachim Llambi, Motsi Mabus and Jorge González and the moderator duo Daniel Hartwich and Victoria Swarovski are present. In addition, of course, 14 celebrities will fight again for the victory – and also for the glittering “Let's Dance” trophy and the “Dance Star” title. This title has already been issued 16 times in recent years.
From 2006 to 2023: These are the “Let's Dance” winners
It all started in 2006 with Wayne Carpendale, who danced his way into the hearts of fans and judges with “Let's Dance” veteran Isabel Edvardsson. The following year, Susan Sideropoulos and Christian Polanc won the trophy.
The successful format then went on hiatus for several years. When RTL launched Let's Dance again in 2010, Sophia Thomalla and Massimo Sinató danced their way to victory. Singer Maite Kelly won in 2011 and was a judge a year later. He was followed in the next few years by Magdalena Brzeska, Manuel Cortez and Alexander Klaws – the latter even described years later by Llambi as “the best candidate we've ever had”.
In 2015, football star Hans Sarpei was named “Dancing Star” and a year later Victoria Swarovski, the present host of “Let's Dance”. For the next three years, the same person always stood on the winners' podium – professional dancer Ekaterina Leonova. Ekat managed to lead his dance students Gil Ofarim, Ingolf Lück and Pascal Hens to victory three years in a row. After the winning streak, Ekat first took a break from “Let's Dance”. In 2020, Massimo Sinató's dance partner won again, this year Lili Paul-Roncalli. In 2021, female fans of Let's Dance were particularly impressed by Rúrik Gíslason, followed by René Casselly, who combined acrobatics and dance with Kathrin Menzinger. Anna Ermakova is still the reigning “Let's Dance” champion. Boris Becker's daughter, who must have been in the minds of only a few “Let's Dance” fans as a possible winner before participating, developed into a surprise star in 2023 and confidently secured victory with her dance partner Valentin Lusin.
“Let's Dance” winners in brief:
2006: Wayne Carpendale with Isabel Edvardsson
2007: Susan Sideropoulos with Christian Polanci
2010: Sophia Thomalla with Massimo Sinató
2011: Maite Kelly and Christian Polanc
2012: Magdalena Brzeska with Erich Klann
2013: Manuel Cortez and Melissa Ortiz
2014: Alexander Klaws and Isabel Edvardsson
2015: Hans Sarpei with Kathrin Menzinger
2016: Victoria Swarovski with Erich Klann
2017: Gil Ofarim with Ekaterina Leonova
2018: Ingolf Lück with Jekaterina Leonova
2019: Pascal Hens with Jekaterina Leonova
2020: Lili Paul-Roncalli with Massimo Sinató
2021: Rúrik Gíslason with Renata Lusin
2022: René Casselly with Kathrin Menzinger
2023: Anna Ermakova with Valentin Lusin
The original of this article “All previous Let's Dance winners at a glance” is from BUNTE.de.