Ervinas Merfeldas (born 18 August 2002) is an Irish ballroom and Latin

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

r and

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

Early life

Merfeldas was born in

Celbridge Celbridge (; ) is a town and townland on the River Liffey in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is west of Dublin. Both a local centre and a commuter town within the Greater Dublin Area, it is located at the intersection of the ...

in Kildare to Lithuanian parents. He attended Scoil Na Mainistreach. He has a younger brother.

Career

Merfeldas has been dancing since the age of seven. He is trained in

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic man ...

and Latin dancing. In 2016, Merfeldas partnered with Gabija Raciute and competed in the WDSF World Championship in Romania. In 2017, Merfeldas and Raciute finished in fifth place in the British Dance Federation Junior Latin Championships. In 2019, Merfeldas and Raciute reached the final of the World Dance Championships - Latin discipline. They eventually finished in sixth place in the final. In 2022, it was announced that Merfeldas would make his acting debut in ''The Blonde Bombshell'', a stage show based on Marilyn Monroe's life which is due to premiere on 20 November 2022 in The Helix, Dublin.

''Dancing with the Stars''

On 22 December 2021, Merfeldas was announced as one of the new professionals to join the fifth season of the Irish version of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

''. Merfeldas was partnered with model, influencer and daughter of Ronan Keating and

Yvonne Connolly Yvonne Connolly (born 7 February 1974) is an Irish model and television personality. Career Connolly began her career working as a commercial model for brands including Coca Cola, Superquinn, Bank of Ireland and the National Lottery. In 20 ...

, Missy Keating. Merfeldas and Keating performed their first routine on the opening week of the show 9 January 2022 to mixed reviews from the judges and a score of 16. Merfeldas and Keating received high praise in Week 4 when they performed a Contemporary Ballroom inspired by the film, '' Wolfwalkers''. In the sixth week of the competition Keating tested positive for COVID-19 meaning the couple were unable to dance. They were given a bye to the following week. On 20 February 2022, Keating and Merfeldas were eliminated from the competition following a dance off against

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and

Denys Samson Denys Samson (; born 21 August 1989) is a Ukrainian ballroom and Latin dancer and choreographer. Career Samson is a former two-time Ukrainian Ten Dance Champion and a two-time World Ten Dance Champion. ''Dancing with the Stars'' Ukraine ...

. On 4 March, it was announced that Merfeldas would partner

when her regular professional partner,

, tested positive for COVID-19. On 13 March, it was announced that Merfeldas would partner

Ellen Keane Ellen Keane (born 6 April 1995) is an Irish Paralympic swimmer and gold medallist competing in S9, SM9 and SB8 classification events. Career Keane won three bronze medals at world championships before winning a bronze medal in the 100 m brea ...

when her regular professional partner, Stephen Vincent, tested positive for COVID-19. Merfeldas was publicly praised for his contribution and ability to step in at such short notice. Merfeldas returned for the sixth series in 2023, partnered with Republic of Ireland footballer,

Stephanie Roche Stephanie Roche (born 13 June 1989) is an Irish association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), striker for Shamrock Rovers Ladies F.C., Shamrock Rovers of Dublin and the Republic of Ireland women's national foot ...

. They were the fourth couple to be eliminated following the first dance-off against Suzanne Jackson and

Michael Danilczuk Michael Danilczuk (Polish: Michał Danilczuk, born 14 February 1992) is a Polish dancer and choreographer. Danilczuk is best known for winning the second season of the BBC One competition series, ''The Greatest Dancer'' with his partner, Jowita ...

. Merfeldas returned for the seventh series in 2024, partnered with '' Ireland AM'' presenter,

Katja Mia Katja Mia (born 17 May 1996) is an Irish model, social media influencer and television presenter, known for her work on '' Ireland AM''. Early life and education Mia was raised in Lucan, Dublin. Her parents fled war-torn Burundi and sought as ...

. They were the sixth couple eliminated from the competition, after losing their dance off to

Blu Hydrangea Blu Hydrangea is the stage name of Joshua Cargill (born 15 February 1996), a Northern Irish drag queen from Belfast who is known for competing on the first series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' (2019) and later winning the first season of '' RuPa ...

Simone Arena Simone Arena (born 7 August 1991) is an Italian dancer and choreographer. Best known as former Italian Ballroom and Latin Champion, Arena joined the third series of the Belgian version of ''Dancing with the Stars''. Early life Arena was born i ...

. Highest and Lowest Scoring Per Dance ; Series 5 – with celebrity partner Missy Keating *Due to Keating testing positive for COVID-19 the couple did not dance in Week 6, but were given a bye to compete in the following week. ; Series 6 – with celebrity partner

;

Series 7 Series 7 may refer to: *The seventh season of any of many shows or series; see and *Series 7 exam, officially the General Securities Representative Exam, the most comprehensive financial securities exam offered by the FINRA *'' Series 7: The Conte ...

– with celebrity partner

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merfeldas, Ervinas 2002 births Living people Ballroom dancers