If there’s one thing we’ve learned from this series of Strictly Come Dancing, it’s that Frankie Bridge is one of life’s winners.

The pop princess is not only a dancing diva, she’s got a pretty amazing life outside of the BBC show too.

She may not have taken the glitterball trophy this time, but she’s wowed from day one on Strictly and is definitely winning at life – and here’s why.

Winning At Life

Frankie Bridge
(BBC)

She’s a top pop star with The Saturdays.

The Saturdays
(Ian West/PA)

Some pop groups seem to simmer with underlying, barely-concealed resentment, but not The Saturdays – you can’t imagine a group more supportive of each other. Rochelle Humes, Una Foden, Mollie King and Vanessa White have been in the audience to cheer on Frankie week after week, with Mollie admitting: “We’re all there, we’re like pushy parents shouting ‘Come on, Frankie!’.”

The Saturdays have sold more than five million records in the UK and Ireland alone, have bagged 18 singles including the number one What About Us with Sean Paul, and have released five albums during their time together.

She’s a happy wife and mum.

Wayne Bridge Frankie Bridge
(Yui Mok/PA)

Frankie has achieved that rarest of feats – a happy showbiz marriage. She got together with footballer Wayne Bridge in 2010 and they married in July this year – unusually for a football/pop union, in a private ceremony.

The pair are also proud parents to son Parker, who turned one in October, and supermum Frankie has not only managed to take on Strictly, she’s also back performing with The Saturdays, too.

She avoided the child star curse.

S Club Juniors
(Ian West/PA)

She may have first made her name alongside bandmate Rochelle in S Club Juniors, but that doesn’t mean Frankie has fallen victim to the curse of the child star. She has gone on to have a hugely successful career in music and is still quiet, modest and unassuming, rather than turning into a pop brat or going off the rails. Any stars in the making would do well to take a leaf out of Frankie’s book.

She’s dealt with depression.

Frankie Bridge
(Sophie Duval/EMPICS Entertainment)

Life hasn’t always been a walk in the park for Frankie – she’s talked openly about struggling with depression in the past. In 2011, she was advised to take time off from The Saturdays so that she’d be well enough to tour with them and later revealed that she had experienced depression and panic attacks since the age of 15.

Frankie has said in the past that she was pleased to have avoided post-natal depression: “It was one of my biggest fears because so many people do get postnatal depression.

“I was convinced I was going to get it – but I didn’t and somehow that’s just made it all even more positive.”

Frankie is a big supporter of Time To Change, a campaign challenging the stigma attached to suffering mental health problems.

Wowing on Strictly

Frankie Bridge
(BBC)

Her dance skills.

Frankie Bridge
(BBC)

Pop stars who take part in Strictly often hear cries of unfair advantages as their day jobs already involve plenty of performing. But shimmying around in a girl group couldn’t be more different from the precise technical abilities required to make it in Strictly.

But Frankie has taken almost every dance style in her stride – and has taken particularly well to the elegant ballroom routines.

Her all-round likeability.

Kevin Clifton Frankie Bridge
(BBC)

Being a likeable contestant goes a long way in Strictly as viewers aren’t just voting on your dancing abilities. Everyone seems to love Frankie – she’s formed close friendships with her fellow contestants as well as the professional dancers, and seems a perfect fit with popular partner Kevin Clifton.

The happy-go-lucky couple have also won over young fans with dances including their Wicked and fairytale Rumba routines during the series.

Her dancefloor looks.

Frankie Bridge
(BBC)

Some stars take to the Strictly makeover more than others, and Frankie has managed to embrace the sequins without looking like a human glitterball.

Her pixie crop helps bring more of an edge to her dancefloor style, with dresses of note throughout the series including those from her Foxtrot and Argentine Tango, and she even managed to rock a green face for Halloween week.

Her ability to avoid the dance-off.

Frankie Bridge Kevin Clifton
(BBC)

Every celebrity’s most dreaded moment is being lit up in red during the results show to mark them out as one of the couples taking part in the dance off.

Frankie had her share of difficult dances – the Salsa and Samba weren’t her favourites – but she managed to pick herself up each time.

Modest Frankie always expected to find herself in the bottom two, but impressing the judges and viewers alike week after week meant that she was the only contestant who never had to dance for survival. That’s quite an achievement in a series which has seen heavyweights such as Jake Wood and Pixie Lott be voted out in the dance off.

Her stand-out dances

Kevin Clifton Frankie Bridge
(BBC)

Some of the most memorable dances of Strictly Come Dancing series 12 have come courtesy of Frankie and Kevin.

From their early hit with a Paso Doble and West Side Story’s America to their Wicked-themed Halloween Tango and pushing boundaries by choosing classical music for her Argentine Tango, Frankie has to be one of the most exciting performers there has ever been on Strictly.