Hollie Robertson

Last updated

Hollie Robertson
Born
Hollie Victoria Robertson

(1985-03-21) 21 March 1985 (age 39)
NationalityBritish
Occupation dancer
Known forwinning Strictly Dance Fever

Hollie Victoria Robertson (born 21 March 1985) is an English dancer who won the second series of the BBC One dance talent show Strictly Dance Fever together with partner Darrien Wright. In the final they beat Darren Bailey and Lana Williams. [1]

Contents

Early life

Robertson grew up in Ludlow, Shropshire. Her background is gymnastics in which she participated from the age of six to thirteen until she slipped a disc. [1] [2] [3] She achieved third place at the British Championships in the vaulting horse, [3] later getting into hip hop dance. Robertson names Levell Smith Junior as her biggest influence.

Education

Robertson took dance classes at In-Steps in Ludlow, where she still teaches hip hop and commercial jazz. [4] [3] From 2005, she attended the Midlands Academy of Dance and Drama in Nottingham for a two-year course in musical theatre.

Career before Strictly Dance Fever

In 2004, Robertson won choreographer Wade Robson's MTV show, Shakedown, [1] taking the title of best dancer in Europe. In 2005, she was a backing dancer in the video of the single "Only U" by Ashanti. She has also danced for Rachel Stevens and McFly.

Strictly Dance Fever

Strictly Dance Fever is an amateur dance competition broadcast on the BBC, consisting of several rounds of auditions followed by weekly live shows in which one couple is voted off each week until three couples are left for the final live show. Voting is done by professional judges and the viewing public, each making up 50% of the total score. The four judges award scores out of ten, while the public phones in to vote for their favourite. During the weeks of the live shows, the couples live together in a Dance Mansion where they receive intensive training.

The show is open to non-professional dancers over the age of 18. [5] Even though Robertson had previously won a similar competition on MTV called Shakedown and had been awarded the title of best dancer in Europe, she was not a professional dancer, and therefore, was allowed to enter.

Robertson participated in series two, which was broadcast in the spring of 2006. In that series 80,000 participants applied for the auditions. Over a million telephone votes were cast over the course of the series. [5]

Robertson auditioned with her boyfriend Bruno. Eventually he was not selected for the live shows and she was partnered with Darrien Wright. Robertson and Wright won the final on 3 June 2006 beating Darren Bailey and Lana Williams.

Robertson and Wright received the top score of ten out of ten of all the judges on both their dances in the final. [5] They performed The Milonga and a freestyle dance. [1] [3] In an earlier round they had also achieved the highest possible score for one of their dances.

The prize consisted of £50,000 [2] [3] for the couple and a contract to dance for one week in the production of Footloose on the West End. [1] Robertson said after winning the final: "I want to put the prize money towards a dance studio so I can teach." [5]

Dances and scores

Dances performed by Robertson and Wright on the second series of Strictly Dance Fever [6]
 DanceJudges scores
Stacey Haynes Arlene Phillips Wayne Sleep Ben Richards Total
Show 1 Rock and Roll 888933
Show 2 Argentine tango 647522
Show 3 Guapacha 898732
Show 4 Jitterbug 677727 [7]
Show 5 American Smooth 8108935
Show 6 Milonga 1010101040
Lindy Hop 878831
Show 7 Hustle n/a69823 (out of 30)
Adagion/a66820 (out of 30)
Final Milonga 1010101040 [5]
Freestyle1010101040 [5]

Career after Strictly Dance Fever

As part of their prize, Robertson and Wright won a professional dance contract. This culminated early in July 2006 when, for a week, the pair took to the West End stage as background dancers in Footloose [1] in London's Novello Theatre. [8] David Essex and Cheryl Baker also starred in the show.

On 11 August 2006, Robertson's career suffered a minor set-back when she was injured after an attack on holiday in Portugal. Robertson was left with severe bruises and her nose had to be reset. Regarding this incident, she's quoted as saying: "I've never had anything so painful happen to me in my life before. It was horrible, absolutely horrible. [...] Stuff happens to you in life and you just have to get on with it and as long as I don't stop dancing it's ok...I'll be ok." [2]

In 2007, Robertson is appeared in the UK tour of Fame [9] [10] alongside dance partner Darrien Wright. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoe Ball</span> British television and radio personality (born 1970)

Zoe Louise Ball is a British broadcaster and presenter. She was the first female host of the Radio 1 and Radio 2 breakfast shows for the BBC, and presented the children's show Live & Kicking, alongside Jamie Theakston from 1996 until 1999.

<i>Strictly Come Dancing</i> British television series

Strictly Come Dancing is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of judges. The title of the show is a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing. The format has been exported to 60 other countries under the title Dancing with the Stars, licensed by BBC Worldwide, and led to a modern dance-themed spin-off Strictly Dance Fever. The Guinness World Records named Strictly as the world's most successful reality television format in 2010. The series is currently presented by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman. Bruce Forsyth co-presented the series with Daly until 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arlene Phillips</span> English choreographer (born 1943)

Dame Arlene Phillips is an English choreographer, talent scout, television judge and presenter, theatre director, and former dancer, who has worked in many fields of entertainment.

<i>Strictly Dance Fever</i> 2005 British TV series or programme

Strictly Dance Fever is a British television programme, broadcast on BBC One on Saturday evenings. It was an amateur dance talent competition, hosted by Graham Norton, which ran during Spring 2005 and Spring 2006. It had 2 extra shows, The Saturday night BBC Three host was Zoe Ball and the nightly BBC3 roundup & fanzine program was hosted by Joe Mace. It was, in many ways, similar to the BBC's popular Strictly Come Dancing, a celebrity based dance contest also broadcast on Saturday evenings. On 12 December 2006, the BBC announced that Strictly Dance Fever had been axed in favour of the Andrew Lloyd Webber talent search, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Judd</span> English musician, dancer and author (born 1985)

Harry Mark Christopher Judd is an English musician, dancer and author. He is the drummer for the band McFly. Judd won the 2011 series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Pavel "Pasha" Kovalev is a Russian professional Latin and ballroom dancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristina Rihanoff</span> Russian dancer (born 1977)

Kristina Rihanoff is a Russian professional ballroom dancer.

Katya Virshilas is a Lithuanian-Canadian dancer and actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karen Bruce</span> British choreographer

Karen Bruce is a choreographer and director who has worked in theatre and television.

Janette Manrara Škorjanec is a Cuban-American singer, television presenter, choreographer and professional dancer from Miami, Florida, US. Born to her Cuban parents, Luis and Maritza, Janette is the oldest of three. Originally a singer, learning from her Cuban family, she formally studied dance from the age of 19. Manrara is best known for her appearances on the US series So You Think You Can Dance and British dance reality television competition, Strictly Come Dancing. She is married to Slovenian dancer and co-star Aljaž Škorjanec. In June 2021, it was announced that Manrara would co host Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two with Rylan Clark and later Fleur East.

Strictly Come Dancing returned for its ninth series on 10 September 2011 with a launch show, with the live shows beginning on 30 September and 1 October 2011. The show was broadcast from Wembley Arena on 19 November with all proceeds going to the BBC charity, Children in Need. The finale took place in the Tower Ballroom at the Blackpool Tower and was the first episode to air in 3D. It was shown on BBC HD and in cinemas around the country.

Karen Hauer is a Venezuelan-American professional Latin dance specialist and World Mambo Champion, best known for her appearances on the British television series Strictly Come Dancing. She is currently the longest serving professional dancer on the show, having joined in 2012. She also featured on the American TV series So You Think You Can Dance, and was a principal dancer in the touring live dance show Burn the Floor.

Kevin James Clifton is an English professional dancer and actor, who was a professional dancer on the BBC TV series Strictly Come Dancing, having previously worked as an assistant choreographer. He has also featured on Burn the Floor. He was given the nickname "Kevin from Grimsby" by Bruce Forsyth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Slater</span> British and American dancer

Emma Slater is a British professional dancer and choreographer. She is known for her appearances on Dancing with the Stars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay McGuiness</span> British singer and songwriter

James "Jay" McGuiness is a British singer, songwriter, actor and author best known as a vocalist with boy band The Wanted. In 2015, partnered with Aliona Vilani, he won the 13th series of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing. In February 2024 Jay’s debut fantasy novel ‘Blood Flowers’ was published worldwide by Scholastic.

Strictly Come Dancing returned for its twelfth series beginning from 7 September 2014 with a launch show, and the live shows began on 26 and 27 September. Tess Daly returned to present the main show on BBC One alongside Claudia Winkleman, who was promoted to co-presenter in addition to the results show after Sir Bruce Forsyth departed the show after the eleventh series; however, Forsyth continued to host the Christmas and Children in Need specials. Zoe Ball returned as presenter of the spin-off show Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two on BBC Two. Judges Darcey Bussell, Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood, and Bruno Tonioli also returned.

Neil Jones is a British dancer and choreographer, best known for his role as a professional dancer in the BBC One dance series Strictly Come Dancing.

Strictly Come Dancing returned for its fifteenth series in 2017 with a launch show on 9 September on BBC One, and live shows starting on 23 September. Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman returned as hosts, while Zoe Ball returned to host Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two on BBC Two.

Strictly Come Dancing returned for its nineteenth series with a launch show on 18 September 2021 on BBC One, and the live shows beginning on 25 September. Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman returned as hosts, while Rylan Clark-Neal returned to host Strictly: It Takes Two alongside new presenter Janette Manrara, who replaced Zoe Ball. In June 2021, the BBC announced that Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, and Craig Revel Horwood would return to the judging panel. Anton Du Beke, who served as a guest judge in the previous series, joined the panel in place of Bruno Tonioli, who did not return for the second year in a row due to travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

<i>Strictly Come Dancing</i> series 20 Season of television series

Strictly Come Dancing returned for its twentieth series with a launch show on 23 September 2022 on BBC One, with live shows beginning the following day on 24 September. The launch show was originally scheduled to be broadcast on 17 September, but was postponed following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman returned as hosts, while Rylan Clark and Janette Manrara returned to host Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "What Hollie did next". www.shropshirestar.com. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 "news story about attack in Portugal on BBC News site". 19 August 2006. Retrieved 24 August 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Ludlow Hollie's TV dance final". Ludlow Advertiser. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  4. ↑ "Teachers list at In-Step". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2007.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Strictly Dance Fever 2006 winning couple crowned". BBC Press Office. 3 June 2006. Retrieved 6 September 2007.
  6. ↑ "Scores by week". Strictly Dancing. Archived from the original on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2007.
  7. ↑ "Week Four". Strictly Dance Fever site. BBC. 4 May 2006. Retrieved 8 September 2007.
  8. ↑ "Interview in Official London Theatre Guide about first night of Footloose". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2007.
  9. ↑ "theatre.com about Fame" . Retrieved 24 August 2007.[ dead link ]
  10. ↑ "Cast info for Fame at UK Theatre Web". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2007.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.