Luba Mushtuk

Luba Mushtuk (; born 14 November 1989 ) is a Russian-British dancer and choreographer. Between 2018 and 2025, she appeared a professional dancer on the British dance competition show Strictly Come Dancing.

Early life Mushtuk was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. 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 is four-time Italian Dance Championship and 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.

Strictly Come Dancing 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 Children in Need special that year with the Irish singer Shane Lynch. She has also competed in the Christmas Special four times: with Jake Wood in 2018, Jay Blades in 2021, Rickie Haywood-Williams in 2022 and Nicholas Bailey in 2025.

In 2019, Mushtuk was partnered with the rower James Cracknell. They were the first couple to be eliminated after losing the first dance-off to David James and Nadiya Bychkova. In 2020, she was partnered with the 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 two series without a celebrity partner and participating only in the professional dances, she was partnered with the actor Adam Thomas for in 2023.

Highest and lowest scoring per dance DancePartnerHighestPartnerLowestAmerican Smooth Adam Thomas 32 Jason Bell Nick Knowles 21 Cha-cha-cha Adam Thomas 19 Charleston Nick Knowles 21 Couple's Choice Adam Thomas 32 Jive Adam Thomas 26 James Cracknell 13Paso Doble Jason Bell Rumba Adam Thomas Salsa Jason Bell 24 Tango Adam Thomas 23 James Cracknell Waltz Adam Thomas 32

numbers indicate Luba and her partner were at the bottom of the leaderboard that week.

Series 17 Celebrity partner: James Cracknell

Series 18 Celebrity partner: Jason Bell

Series 21 Celebrity partner: Adam Thomas

Series 22 Celebrity partner: Nick Knowles