If you love the dance competition, then we’ve got the perfect set of audiobooks for you to lose yourself in, from memoirs by the judges of the show – filled with brutal honesty and some startling revelations – to fiction set in the world of dance.
Whether your favourite dance is the Viennese waltz, the Argentine tango or a classic jive, we’ve got the book to satisfy your dancing feet. And there are no duds here; all these audiobooks get perfect 10s across the board.
Motsi Mabuse has got an impressive CV: she’s a Latin dance champion, a judge on Strictly Come Dancing, and has started her own dance school. In her memoir Finding My Own Rhythm, Motsi – whose sister Oti was a professional dancer on Strictly and won twice – opens up about how she achieved her dreams.
Motsi takes us back to growing up in apartheid South Africa where she experienced exclusion and discrimination, raising money to compete in cut-throat international competitions, and giving up her law degree to move to Germany and be with her dance partner.
Covering the dazzling world of dance as well as the sport’s less shiny side, Motsi shares how she’s always moved to her own rhythm.
Since Strictly Come Dancing began in 2004, Craig Revel Horwood has been a fixture on our screens. The forthright judge, whose criticism has sometimes been harsh but is hardly ever unfair, is the only original member of the judging panel now left on the show.
In this third instalment of his memoirs – following All Balls and Glitter and Tales from the Dance Floor – Craig shares his thoughts on some of the biggest moments of Strictly Come Dancing’s history, including the departures of presenter Bruce Forsyth and judge Len Goodman and the arrival of Claudia Winkelman and Shirley Ballas of their replacements.
Craig also opens up about his personal life, from his heartache over failed romances to his pain at losing his dad, and how his work kept him from flying to Australia for the funeral.
With his famous wit, and maybe a couple of his trademark catchphrases, In Strictest Confidence is – as to expected from the judge – a funny and brutally honest memoir.
Shirley Ballas has had a spectacular dance career spanning more than 40 years, during which she became a multi-award-winning ballroom champion and one of the most renowned dancers in the world.
Retirement in 1996 was just the beginning; she became a highly acclaimed coach and is now head judge of Strictly Come Dancing.
In her memoir Behind the Sequins, she tells us about her life, from growing up in a rough estate on the Wirral and leaving home aged just 14, through to two broken marriages and a tragedy that left Shirley and her family devastated.
And of course, the judge also shares just what it took to conquer the world of ballroom dancing, never shying away from the challenges as well as the triumphs.
Winner of the third series of The Great British Bake Off, John Whaite made history in 2021 when he became part of the first all-male couple to compete on Strictly Come Dancing (the first same-sex couple was 2020’s professional boxer Nicola Adams with Katya Jones).
In his memoir Dancing on Eggshells, John takes us on an intimate journey through his life. Beginning with his childhood in rural Lancashire, where he was scared to sleep alone, through to his unruly teen years and into adulthood and achieving fame through Bake Off, John takes us through the highs and the lows, including how he came close to self-destructing.
Through his experiences, John shares how he arrived at the realisation that it is through our own experiences that wisdom and fulfilment is gained.
In Jojo: Finally Home, champion dancer and Strictly Come Dancing professional Johannes Radebe – whose celebrity partners have included Caroline Quentin and Ellie Taylor – shares his never-before-told personal story.
Get to know him through stories of his time growing up in Zamdela, a township in South Africa, as a young boy with a passion for dance and playing with Barbies, and hear how dance transformed Jojo's future, giving him a way to express himself.
Moving and captivating, Joao shares the highs and lows of his life, covering grief, family, love and opportunity, and telling listeners the experiences and relationships that have led him to finally feel at home in his own skin.
One of Strictly Come Dancing’s most beloved professional dancers – and now a judge on the show – Anton Du Beke’s latest novel The Ballroom Blitz takes listeners back to the 1940s.
There, as bombs rain down on London, the staff at the famed Buckingham Hotel do all they can to evoke the magic of the Grand ballroom for their guests each night.
Home on leave and reeling from the tragic events at Dunkirk, Raymond de Guise is struggling to adjust to the new world, and do his duty to his country and his wife Nancy.
With profiteers skulking the London streets, and devious rivals plotting the downfall of the hotel, the hotel staff must all hold onto what matters most – and decide where their loyalties truly lie.
Set in the run-up to Christmas, this book is the perfect listen ahead of the festive period.
Shirley Ballas’ first foray into fiction, ghostwritten by Sheila McClure, is a glamorous and deadly tale set in the world of dance.
The novel, the first in the The Sequin Mysteries series, draws on Shirley’s own experiences of being a competitive dancer and adds these to a murder mystery.
Listen as Lily Richmond – dance legend, teacher and one-time world champion – tries to persuade people that the collapse of a promising young dancer during the opening tango of Blackpool Tower Ballroom’s famous Dance Festival is actually part of something much more sinister.
As bodies pile up, Lily and former student Susie Cooper, a private detective who swore never to return to the ballroom, team up to try and expose the murderer… before they strike again.
Craig Revel Horwood turns his hand to fiction with a story set against the boho backdrop of London’s Camden in the 1990s.
Dances and Dreams on Diamond Street is set over the course of a year and follows a group of unlikely friends who each rent a room in a ramshackle six-bedroom, four-storey townhouse. Presided over by Danny Hall, a dancer-turned-choreographer, the group sometimes fight, but are always there for each other as each tries to achieve their own dreams.
This is a funny, offbeat and heartwarming novel, narrated by Ewan Goddard.
When Kate Wareing secures a place in a televised dance competition, she’s astonished, and undetermined to win the contest and claim a life-changing cash prize.
After a scandal, Kate has to switch partners, from the gorgeous French dancer Merle to Aleksis, who is just as handsome but seems to hate her.
Persuading Aleksis that a showman is the way to win, Kate soon finds her feelings for her fake boyfriend becoming real, all while Merle is trying to sabotage her chances at claiming the top spot.
Ward’s novel, narrated by Alex Dunmore, is a feel-good book about dance and love.
One person is all it takes to change a lifetime.... But how will you know if they’re the one?
In present-day Rome Letty and Alf are the only English speakers in an Italian class. As they get to know each other, they discover they’re connected why the language of dance: Letty’s first love was ballet, while Alf was a junior ballroom champion.
But the pair’s pasts haunt them, and as they become closer they find it harder and harder to reveal their secrets to each other. When the unthinkable happens, causing Letty to return to London and Alf to Blackpool, the pair’s future become uncertain.
Kristin Atherton brings to life Kate Eberlen’s novel, a sweet tale of love and coming to terms with the past.
Professional dancer Gina Morales has spent four seasons on reality show The Dance Off, and not made it to the finals. That could all change when she’s partnered with Stone Nielson, the sexy star of an Alaskan wilderness show, could be her chance. He has some surprising moves but is only in the competition to help his family, and keep their secrets.
Set up for a showmance, Gina and Stone have undeniable chemistry. As they heat up the dance floor and the tabloids catch on to their romance, they have to decide if they’ll choose fame and fortune, or give love a chance.
Take the Lead is a fun, sexy romance – narrated by Seraphina Valentine – which does have mature themes.
