Amy Dowden is the third most popular dancer from Strictly Come Dancing 2021, gaining over 100K followers

• Analysis of Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer’s Instagram accounts reveals that Giovanni Pernice has gained the most followers since the latest series began. 
• Kai Widdrington has gained almost 140,000 new followers– the second most. 

New research by casino experts Casino Bee has revealed that Giovanni Pernice gained a whopping 217,001 followers since the first live show of series 18 of Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday 25^th September. The study analysed the Instagram profile of each Strictly Come Dancing professional and used social media marketing tools to discover who won the influencer glitterball.  

Pernice, who has reached the final with partner Rose Ayling-Ellis, began the series with 476K followers and will end the series with 217,001 new followers which is an overall increase of 45.58%.  

Despite being one of the newest professional dancers on Strictly, Kai Widdrington has gained 139,574 followers since the first live show of the series, where he was paired with AJ Odudu. This is a 700% follower increase altogether, making him the second most popular dancer after Giovanni Pernice. 

Amy Dowden, from Caerphilly, gained the third highest number of followers of the Strictly professionals, gaining 106,201 followers. Dowden could now charge £942 per sponsored post thanks to her new follower count.  

Johannes Radebe saw a follower increase of 95,422, the fourth highest amount out of all the professional dancers. Radebe and dance partner John Whaite are the first male same-sex pairing on the show, making numerous headlines and gaining attention and followers for the couple. 

The fifth most popular professional of the series due to their follower count is Nikita Kuzmin, who only started on the show this year. Kuzmin has had a 306.19% increase in Instagram followers, going from 25,888 followers on the 25^th September when the first show aired.  

Other notable professional dancers that saw big increases in their social media followings were Nadiya Bychkova, who had a 46.95% rise in followers from 85,366 followers to 125,448. Nancy Xu who had her first series with a partner, Rhys Stephenson, had an 86.31% rise in her following, gaining 18,842 followers over the course of the series. 

A spokesperson from Casino Bee commented “Each episode of Strictly Come Dancing is viewed by millions and gives an enormous amount of exposure, not just to the celebrities but also the professionals, which increases opportunities for the dancers outside of the Strictly season.” 

The research was carried out by Casino Bee, which is dedicated to providing players with trusted casino reviews and comparisons.