Few professional dancers in recent memory have made as swift and as lasting an impression on British television as Jowita Przystał. Born on August 22, 1994, in Kraków, Poland, she went from competing on the regional dance circuits of her home country to lifting one of the most coveted trophies in UK entertainment. Her story is not a tale of overnight success, it is proof of what years of quiet, relentless work can accomplish when talent meets discipline. We have put together the most complete account of her life, career, and ongoing dance journey, drawing on everything that is publicly known about this remarkable artist.
Early Life and Childhood in Kraków
Jowita Przystał grew up in Kraków, one of Poland’s oldest and most culturally rich cities. She began dancing at the age of 12, a relatively later start compared to some elite competitors who take their first steps on the floor at five or six years old. Yet what she lacked in early years she more than compensated for with the intensity she brought to every training session. Her natural sense of rhythm and a physical aptitude for movement made her progress quickly through the ranks of her local dance school.
Her parents, recognising the depth of her passion, gave her the kind of support that makes or breaks a young athlete’s trajectory. Daily practise became a fixture of her life, and the blend of discipline and artistic freedom that her coaches encouraged helped her develop both technically and emotionally as a performer. Kraków’s cultural landscape, rich in music, theatre, and folk tradition, likely shaped her sensitivity to performance in ways that technical training alone never could.
The Latin dance disciplines became her speciality. Latin dancing as a competitive art form demands not only athletic precision but also a deep emotional expressiveness, and it was precisely this dual requirement that seemed to suit Jowita’s temperament. By her mid-teens she was already performing at a level that drew notice from coaches and competition organisers well beyond the local circuit.
Competitive Career and the Road to the Polish Open Latin Title
Throughout her teenage years and into early adulthood, Jowita competed extensively across national and international ballroom competitions. The five core Latin dances, cha-cha, samba, rumba, paso doble, and jive, each demand different qualities from a dancer, and mastering all five to a competition standard requires years of focused effort. She worked through them systematically, always pushing her own ceiling.
Her persistence paid off in a major way when she claimed the title of Polish Open Latin Champion, a nationally recognised accolade that placed her firmly among Poland’s finest competitive dancers. This title was not won in a single golden moment. It was the culmination of years of competition, of refining technique, of learning how to hold a stage under pressure and deliver peak performance precisely when it mattered.
In 2015, Jowita made a decision that would fundamentally change the direction of her life. She stepped back from the competitive circuit, a world she had known since early adolescence, and joined Burn The Floor, the internationally touring theatrical dance company that has staged productions across more than 30 countries. For someone who had spent her formative years in the structured world of competition, stepping into theatrical touring was a significant shift. It pushed her toward a more expressive, storytelling-oriented approach to movement, skills that would prove invaluable later. She toured with the company for four years, performing across venues in Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia.
The Greatest Dancer: National Fame and the Mentorship of Oti Mabuse
Jowita arrived in the United Kingdom in 2019, and it did not take long for the country to take notice of her. She entered The Greatest Dancer, BBC One’s televised dance competition series, alongside her then-partner and fellow Polish dancer Michael Danilczuk. The two had first crossed paths at a summer dance camp in Kraków in 2013, and their personal and professional connection gave their performances a chemistry that was immediately visible on screen.
What set Jowita apart during The Greatest Dancer wasn’t just technical brilliance, it was the quality of storytelling she brought to each routine. Judges and audiences alike responded to the way she inhabited a piece of music rather than simply executing steps. That intangible quality, the ability to make an audience feel something during a two-minute routine, is what separates the good from the truly special.
Crucially, her mentor throughout the competition was Oti Mabuse, the Zimbabwean-South African dancer who was at that time one of the most celebrated professional dancers on Strictly Come Dancing. The mentorship gave Jowita not just guidance but a direct connection to the Strictly world. Oti’s influence helped Jowita understand the specific demands of British television performance, the pacing, the camera awareness, the relationship with a live studio audience. In 2020, Jowita and Michael won the competition, and as part of her prize, she had the opportunity to perform on the Strictly Come Dancing stage itself.
Joining Strictly Come Dancing: Series 19 (2021)
Following her Greatest Dancer victory, Jowita was invited to join the professional cast of Strictly Come Dancing for its nineteenth series in 2021. Her first season was spent in group dances and ensemble performances rather than in a celebrity partnership, a common introduction for new professionals on the show. While some might find such a beginning underwhelming, Jowita approached it with the same focus she had brought to every previous stage of her career. She learned the show’s rhythms, built relationships with the production team and fellow pros, and prepared herself for what was to come.
Strictly Come Dancing itself has been a cornerstone of British Saturday night television since 2004, drawing millions of viewers each week during its autumn run. The show pairs professional dancers with celebrities who have little or no formal training, with the resulting journey forming the emotional core of each series. For professional dancers, it demands not only performance skills but also teaching, motivating, and emotionally supporting a partner who may be terrified of the spotlight.
The 2022 Series: Winning the Glitterball with Hamza Yassin
The twentieth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2022 became the chapter that defined Jowita Przystał’s mainstream career. She was partnered with Hamza Yassin, a wildlife cameraman and television presenter best known for his appearances on Countryfile and Let’s Go For A Walk. Hamza arrived at the competition with no formal dance background, a fact that makes what followed all the more remarkable.
From the earliest weeks of the series, the partnership between Jowita and Hamza generated genuine warmth. Hamza’s openness, his willingness to be vulnerable and to work extraordinarily hard, combined with Jowita’s ability to communicate technique through encouragement rather than criticism, produced performances that moved judges and viewers alike. Week by week, their scores climbed. Hamza became the bookmakers’ favourite, and the public’s affection for both of them grew steadily.
The grand final on December 17, 2022 was one of the more emotionally charged finales in recent Strictly history. Four couples competed, Hamza and Jowita alongside Fleur East and Vito Coppola, Helen Skelton and Gorka Marquez, and Molly Rainford and Carlos Gu. After the judges’ advisory scores placed them at the bottom of the leaderboard on 113 points, it was the public vote that told the real story. Hamza and Jowita won the Glitterball Trophy, the most recognisable prize in British dance television.
In an emotional acceptance speech, Hamza told the audience, “Jowita, you are an angel disguised in a human being.” Jowita, for her part, spoke about the honour of having guided him from someone who arrived with, in her own words, “pigeon toes,” to a Strictly champion. This victory was historically significant. It made Jowita the first female professional dancer to win the Glitterball in her debut celebrity partnership, a record that reflects both her exceptional teaching ability and her instinct for connecting with a partner on a human level.
Subsequent Strictly Series: Partners and Continued Presence
In the 2023 and 2024 series, Jowita continued her role as a Strictly professional, taking on new celebrity partnerships each year. Her 2024 partnership with Pete Wicks, the former TOWIE personality and podcast host, attracted considerable media attention. Their on-screen chemistry generated the kind of conversation that Strictly thrives on, and though they did not reach the final, their performances were consistently praised for energy and personal expression. Pete himself was publicly enthusiastic about Jowita as a partner, stating she was exactly the right person to spend so much time with through the experience.
In 2025, Jowita was paired with Ross King, the veteran broadcaster known as ITV’s Los Angeles correspondent for shows including Lorraine and Good Morning Britain. The partnership brought together a new dynamic as King, at 62, represented one of the older celebrity contestants in the show’s recent history.
Dance Style and Artistic Signature
Jowita Przystał’s dancing resists easy categorisation, which is part of what make it so compelling to watch. Her competitive background gives her a technical foundation that is genuinely world-class. The precision of her footwork, the control of her frame in ballroom, and the sharpness of her Latin hip movement are the products of over two decades of serious training. But technique alone never explains why audiences respond to her so strongly.
What she does with that technique is tell stories. Every routine she performs carries an emotional logic, a beginning, middle, and end that takes the viewer somewhere. This is a skill she clearly developed through her years with Burn The Floor, where theatrical performance, not competition scoring, was the governing objective. She draws on both traditions simultaneously, and the result is a style that feels both rigorously correct and deeply alive.
She is also, by all accounts, an exceptional teacher. The transformation of Hamza Yassin from a nervous novice to a champion in a single series is perhaps the most striking evidence of this. Great dance teachers are not simply skilled communicators of technique. They are motivators, psychologists, and creative collaborators, and Jowita clearly operates at the highest level across all three dimensions.
Personal Life and Background
Jowita has generally kept her private life away from the glare of tabloid coverage, though certain details are part of the public record. Her relationship with Michael Danilczuk, her Greatest Dancer partner, spanned several years before the two separated in 2023. The relationship had its roots in that Kraków dance camp encounter in 2013 and evolved naturally from professional partnership into something personal.
Standing at approximately 5 feet tall (around 1.52 meters), Jowita is one of the smaller professional dancers on the Strictly roster, though her stage presence means she commands attention in any room. She lives in England and has built a life in the UK over the years since she first arrived in 2019. Her social media presence, particularly on Instagram under the handle @jowitaprzystal, offers fans an ongoing glimpse into both her professional rehearsals and occasional personal moments.
Burn The Floor and the Importance of Theatrical Training
It is worth lingering a little longer on the Burn The Floor chapter of Jowita’s career because it shaped her in ways that pure competition could not have. Burn The Floor is a company that has been bringing high-energy theatrical dance to global audiences since the late 1990s, with productions touring to dozens of countries and audiences numbering in the millions. The experience of performing in that context, before crowds in major theatres across multiple continents, built in Jowita a ease with large-scale performance and a performer’s instinct for an audience’s energy.
Competitive dance and theatrical dance require overlapping but distinct skill sets. Competition rewards precision, technical correctness, and a kind of contained brilliance. Theatre rewards projection, storytelling, and the ability to make someone in the back row feel included. Jowita spent four formative years mastering the second set, and when she arrived at Strictly, the combination gave her an edge over colleagues who had come exclusively from one tradition or the other.
Achievements Summary
We believe it helps to have her key achievements laid out clearly, as they collectively represent an extraordinary professional record:
- Polish Open Latin Champion, achieved through years of elite-level competitive dance
- Winner of The Greatest Dancer (2020) on BBC One, alongside partner Michael Danilczuk, under the mentorship of Oti Mabuse
- Glitterball Trophy Winner, Strictly Come Dancing Series 20 (2022), partnered with Hamza Yassin
- First female professional to win the Strictly Glitterball in her debut celebrity partnership
- Four years touring internationally with Burn The Floor, performing across multiple continents
- Continued presence as a professional on Strictly Come Dancing from 2021 through at least the 2025 series
Influence and Legacy in the Dance World
Jowita Przystał occupies a meaningful place in British dance culture at this particular moment. Her story speaks directly to a generation of young dancers, particularly those from Eastern Europe, who dream of making their mark internationally. She built her career step by step, through competitions, through touring, through a TV talent contest, and eventually through one of the UK’s most beloved entertainment institutions. There were no shortcuts in that journey, and its authenticity resonates.
Her Strictly win in 2022 was celebrated not only as a personal achievement but as a moment of genuine television magic. The partnership with Hamza Yassin, a man who had never danced before, was the kind of story that reminds audiences why they tune in every autumn. Jowita’s role in creating that story was central, and the affection viewers have for her is grounded in having watched her work, week after week, to produce it.
As she continues to perform and mentor on Strictly and potentially in other formats, her influence on the show’s character and on the wider dance community will only deepen. We expect the name Jowita Przystał to remain a familiar and respected one in British entertainment for a long time to come.
Frequently Asked Questions About Jowita Przystał
Where was Jowita Przystał born?
She was born in Kraków, Poland, on August 22, 1994.
When did Jowita start dancing?
She began dancing at the age of 12.
What is Jowita Przystał’s biggest achievement?
Winning the Strictly Come Dancing Glitterball Trophy in 2022 with Hamza Yassin is widely regarded as her most significant career milestone, particularly as she did so in her first series with a celebrity partner.
Has Jowita Przystał won The Greatest Dancer?
Yes. She won The Greatest Dancer in 2020 alongside Michael Danilczuk, with Oti Mabuse as her mentor.
What dance style is Jowita known for?
She is trained primarily in Latin ballroom disciplines including cha-cha, samba, rumba, paso doble, and jive, and brings a theatrical storytelling quality to all of her work.
How long has Jowita been on Strictly Come Dancing?
She joined the Strictly professional cast in 2021 and has remained with the show through at least the 2025 series.
