Julian Benson (born 26 February 1971) is a talent agent, choreographer and is also known for his role as a judge on the

RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís � ...

series, ''

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 ...

.''

Early life

Julian Benson was born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

where he did his formative dance training. He and his family moved to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

when Julian was twelve years old.

Professional dance career

Benson studied in

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

obtaining a degree in English and Psychology, before studying for two years in Paris. He would eventually become the Head of Dance in

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. As a choreographer, Benson has produced many productions including

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...

with the

Scottish Ballet Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the five leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet. Founded in 1969, ...

Talent agency

Benson runs Julian Benson Management. A talent agency for television presenters and actors. Some of his clients include

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's '' The Late Late Show''. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Steph ...

member

Mikey Graham Michael Christopher Charles "Mikey" Graham (born 15 August 1972) is an Irish singer-songwriter, actor and record producer, best known as a member of boy band Boyzone. Early life The youngest of seven children, Graham was born to housewife Sheil ...

Fair City ''Fair City'' is an Irish television soap opera which has been broadcast on RTÉ One since 1989. Produced by the public service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), it first aired on Monday, 18 September 1989. It has won several award ...

actors Maclean Burke and Donna Anita Nikolaisen, and television presenter, Eoghan McDermott whom Benson regards as one of his best friends.

Media career

From 2017 to 2020, Benson was a judge on the Irish version of ''Dancing with the Stars'' for

alongside

Loraine Barry Loraine Barry (born 10 December 1964) is a former professional dancer and also known for her role as a judge on the RTÉ One series, ''Dancing with the Stars.'' Early life Loraine Barry was born in Cabra in Dublin, Ireland. By the age of ninete ...

and

Brian Redmond Brian Redmond (born 6 March 1977) is best known for his starring role in the judging hotseat on RTÉ One series, Dancing with the Stars. An integral part of the show's team from the very first episode, Brian was hired to be the "Simon Cowell" cha ...

. Because of his health condition, Benson missed several week's judging each year. He was replaced by Darren Bennett.

Personal life

Benson was diagnosed with

cystic fibrosis Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine. Long-term issues include difficulty breathing and coughing up mucus as a result of frequent lung infections. O ...

at the age of two and was given a life expectancy of thirteen years. Benson kept his diagnosis private for over forty years before revealing it in an interview with

Ryan Tubridy Ryan Tubridy (born 28 May 1973), nicknamed 'Tubs ' is an Irish broadcaster. He presents ''The Ryan Tubridy Show'' and '' The Late Late Show''. Tubridy previously presented RTÉ 2fm breakfast radio show ''The Full Irish'', which at its end was ...

on The Late Late Show. In 2018, Benson launched the Julian Benson CF Foundation, an organisation fighting to help those with cystic fibrosis. On 8 December 2018, the foundation had a charity ball in order to raise funds. It was hosted by Eoghan McDermott and attended by a number of Irish celebrities. Benson is a fluent

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

speaker. Benson is openly gay.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Julian Dancing with the Stars (Irish TV series) Living people 1971 births LGBT choreographers Australian gay men Australian LGBT broadcasters Australian choreographers Australian emigrants to Ireland Australian television personalities