Candy Michele Lane is a New Zealand dancer, choreographer and television presenter. She co-presented TVNZ's '' Dancing With The Stars'' with

Jason Gunn Jason Gunn (born 26 December 1968) is a New Zealand television and radio personality. He is known for '' The Son of a Gunn Show, What Now, Dancing with the Stars, Wheel of Fortune'', and ''The Rich List'', and also afternoon shows on radio sta ...

, and also choreographed ''

New Zealand's Got Talent ''New Zealand's Got Talent'' was a New Zealand reality television show which premiered in 2008. The show was based on the ''Got Talent'' series. The show featured singers, dancers, magicians, comedians and other variety performers of all ages co ...

'', ''The Singing Bee'', and ''

Stars in Their Eyes ''Stars in Their Eyes'' is a British television talent series, based on Joop van den Ende's Dutch format ''Soundmixshow''. It featured a singing contest in which members of the public impersonate showbiz stars. The show premiered on 21 July 1 ...

''. Most recently she was the Head Judge of the 2015 series of '' Dancing With the Stars''. In August 2021, it was announced that she would feature in the 2021 Season of

Celebrity Treasure Island 2021 ''Celebrity Treasure Island 2021'' is the 11th season overall, and the fifth celebrity season of the New Zealand reality-television series ''Treasure Island''. After a break in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fifth edition of ''Celebrity Tr ...

. She relocated to Australia in 2022 to be closer to her family.

Dance career

Performance

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

-born Lane first represented New Zealand in dancing when she was 10 years old, and as a 14-year-old became the youngest person to win the New Zealand Amateur titles. Aged 15, she went to London to train, dancing on the world circuit for 10 years and performing lead roles in the West End, including playing Anita in ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...

''. At 18, Lane became the youngest person to win the professional Australasian and South Pacific championships, which she went on to win five times. With her partner Doug Newton, she won the Professional Latin title at the Australian Championships in 1977, 1978 and 1979. She reached a ranking of third in the world for dance.

Choreography

Lane has choreographed several New Zealand television shows, including ''The Singing Bee''and Dancing with the Stars, ''Stars in Their Eyes'' and ''New Zealand's Got Talent''.

Teaching and judging

In 1990, she established her own dance troupe, The Candy Lane Dancers. She then opened a dance school, Candy Lane Dance Studios, in the Auckland suburb of Mount Eden. An International Adjudicator, she has judged at the Ballroom and Latin American World Championships and many other international competitions.

Television presenting

''Dancing With The Stars''

Lane was co-host alongside Jason Gunn of five series of the New Zealand version of ''Dancing with the Stars'' between 2005 and 2009. She specifically presented the backstage interviews with the dancers and the half- and full-time leaderboards. She often danced with

Brendan Cole Brendan Cole (born 23 April 1976) is a New Zealand ballroom dancer, specialising in Latin American dancing. He is most famous for appearing as a professional dancer on the BBC One show, ''Strictly Come Dancing''. From 2005 to 2009, he was a j ...

, a judge on the show. On the final episode of each season, Lane performed in a choreographed "spectacular", featuring the dancers from the show, Gunn and The Candy Lane Dancers. Lane was the head judge for the 2015 revival on TV3.

The Shopping Channel

In October 2012 Lane became one of the inaugural presenters on

The Shopping Channel TSC (formerly The Shopping Channel) is a Canadian discretionary service channel owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The channel showcases various products which viewers can purchase either by telephone or inter ...

, New Zealand's first home shopping channel.

Fashion design

Lane launched a line of dance-inspired leisure clothing, "Dancesport" in 2008.

Honours

In the

2014 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2014 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

, Lane was awarded the

Queens Service Medal The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

for services to dance. In October 2015 she was presented with a Scroll of Honour from the

Variety Artists Club of New Zealand The Variety Artists Club of New Zealand Inc (VAC) is a non-for-profit organisation and show business club. It was founded in 1966 and became an incorporated society in 1972. The VAC was formed to promote goodwill within the New Zealand enterta ...

for her services to New Zealand entertainment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Candy Living people Entertainers from Auckland New Zealand ballroom dancers New Zealand choreographers New Zealand television presenters New Zealand women television presenters Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal 21st-century New Zealand dancers Year of birth missing (living people)