Kevin Clifton

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Kevin James Clifton (born 13 October 1982) is an English professional dancer and actor who was a professional dancer on the

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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 Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of L ...

" by Sir Bruce Forsyth. On 15 December 2018, Clifton won the sixteenth series of Strictly with his celebrity partner

Stacey Dooley Stacey Jaclyn Dooley (born 9 March 1987) is an English television presenter, journalist, and media personality. She came to prominence in 2008 when she appeared as a participant on '' Blood, Sweat and T-shirts''. Since then, she has made socia ...

, who has been his girlfriend since 2019. He appeared in every year's final from when he joined the show in 2013, with the exception of 2017 and 2019. He announced on 6 March 2020 that he was leaving the show, saying that he wanted to focus on "other areas of his career."

Early life

Clifton started dancing ballroom and Latin as a child in his home village of Waltham, near Grimsby, taught by his parents, former World Champions Keith and Judy Clifton. He competed nationally and internationally as a child initially partnering his sister Joanne. Later, when they both chose to move on to different partners he chose Latin as his primary dance style so as not to directly compete against his sister. He was a Youth World Number 1 and four time British Latin Champion and won International Open titles in Italy, Germany, Spain,

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, Sweden, Japan, France,

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Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

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and Belgium. At the time of his retirement from competitive dancing in 2007, he was ranked 7th in the world.

Career

In 2010, Clifton made his musical theatre debut in '' Dirty Dancing The Musical'' at the

Aldwych Theatre The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster, central London. It was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels. History Origins The theatre was constructed in th ...

in London's West End, where he partnered BBC1's ''

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and ha ...

'' winner, Charlie Bruce. From January 2008 to June 2013, Clifton and his future wife Karen Hauer were principal dancers of the Burn The Floor Dance Company, performing in the show's record breaking Broadway run, as well as starring at the

Shaftesbury Theatre The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden. Opened in 1911 as the New Prince's Theatre, it was the last theatre to be built in Shaftesbury Avenue. History The theatre was ...

in London's West End. He also performed with the show in Japan, Australia, South Africa and the United States, as well as making guest appearances on '' Dancing with the Stars'' in the United States and ''

'' in the Netherlands. They rejoined Burn The Floor as principal dancers for a short tour of Australia and Japan in Spring 2014. He appeared on Series 5 of ''

Hacker Time ''Hacker Time'' is a British children's sketch comedy talk show, broadcast by CBBC, starring Hacker T. Dog, a character from Scoop. In each episode, Hacker interviews a celebrity, and plays games and the show also includes recurring segments, s ...

''.

''Strictly Come Dancing''

Highest and lowest scoring performances per dance

In 2013, Clifton appeared on series 11 of '' Strictly Come Dancing'' and was partnered with

Susanna Reid Susanna Reid (born 10 December 1970) is an English television presenter and journalist. She was a co-presenter of ''BBC Breakfast'' from 2003 until 2014 alongside Bill Turnbull and Charlie Stayt. In 2013, she finished as a runner-up on the elev ...

. He had previously auditioned for the show with his partner Karen Hauer, but they had only needed a female dancer at the time, so he was instead employed as a choreographer for the show in 2012. In the 2013 Blackpool performance of the show he was joined in the opening dance by his family. On the same show, Reid and Clifton scored 39/40 for their paso doble, putting them at the top of the leaderboard. He won the 2013 Strictly Come Dancing Pro Challenge becoming the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

holder for most Drunken Sailors in 30 seconds The couple's popularity ensured they reached the final, on 21 December, where they finished as runners up with

Natalie Gumede Natalie Gumede (born 20 March 1984) is an English actress. She is known for playing Kirsty Soames in the ITV soap opera, ''Coronation Street'', from 2011 to 2013. She previously played China in BBC Three comedy show ''Ideal''. She has also ap ...

behind model

Abbey Clancy Abigail Marie Clancy (born 10 January 1986) is an English lingerie and catwalk model, and television personality. She was the runner-up of '' Britain's Next Top Model (cycle 2)'' in 2006 and won series 11 of '' Strictly Come Dancing'' in 2013 ...

. In 2014's series 12 of '' Strictly Come Dancing'' Clifton was paired with pop star

Frankie Bridge Francesca Bridge ( Sandford, born 14 January 1989) is an English singer, formerly a member of S Club Juniors and a member of girl group The Saturdays. She is signed to Fascination and Polydor labels. Bridge began her career when she auditioned ...

. They were declared the runners-up with Simon Webbe beaten by

Caroline Flack Caroline Louise Flack (9 November 1979 – 15 February 2020) was an English television and radio presenter and actress. She won the twelfth series of BBC’s ''Strictly Come Dancing'' in 2014 and presented '' The X Factor'' and later ''Love Is ...

and

Pasha Kovalev Pavel "Pasha" Kovalev (russian: Па́вел "Па́ша" Ковалёв) is a Russian professional Latin and ballroom dancer. Kovalev started dancing at the age of eight, and in 2001, moved to the United States with his professional dance par ...

. In 2015, Clifton, recently married to co-professional dancer Karen Hauer, returned for the thirteenth series of the show and was partnered up with '' EastEnders'' actress

Kellie Bright Kellie Denise Bright (born 1 July 1976) is an English actress. Her roles include Linda Carter in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', for which she won the 2015 British Soap Award for Best Actress and Best Dramatic Performance, Julie in ''Ali G ...

. Bright and Clifton scored a perfect 40 for their Tango and Showdance and eventually finished as joint runners up with

Georgia May Foote Georgia May Foote (born 11 February 1991) is an English actress and model. She is best known for playing Alison Simmons in the BBC school drama series ''Grange Hill'' from 2005 to 2008 and Katy Armstrong in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation St ...

and

Giovanni Pernice Giovanni Pernice (born 5 September 1990) is an Italian professional dancer based in the United Kingdom, best known for his appearances on the British television show '' Strictly Come Dancing''. He is also an Italian Open Latin Dance Champion (201 ...

. Clifton has also taken part in the '''Strictly live tour'.'' For the 2014 tour he continued his partnership with series 11 partner, Susanna Reid. He was due to dance again with Frankie Bridge for the 2015 tour, but she had to pull out due to pregnancy, he instead danced with series 6 contestant

Rachel Stevens Rachel Lauren Stevens (born 9 April 1978) is an English singer, television personality, actress and businesswoman. She was a member of the pop group S Club 7 between 1999 and 2003. She released her solo debut studio album '' Funky Dory'' in Se ...

. Clifton and Bridge were however reunited for the 2016 tour. In 2016 Clifton again took part in ''Strictly Come Dancing'', where he partnered singer and media personality

Louise Redknapp Louise Elizabeth Redknapp (née Nurding, born 4 November 1974) is an English singer, songwriter and media personality. She was a member of Eternal, an R&B girl group which debuted in 1993 with their quadruple-platinum studio album '' Always & ...

. On 17 December 2016, Clifton became the first professional dancer in the show's history to compete in four consecutive finals; he was also the only professional dancer not to be in the dance-off. For the fourth time, Clifton finished as a series runner-up, after he and Redknapp lost out in the final result to

Ore Oduba Ore Oduba (born 17 November 1986) is a British television and radio presenter who has also worked as an actor. He is best known for winning the fourteenth series of BBC One's ''Strictly Come Dancing'' in 2016. He presented the CBBC news program ...

and Ore's partner, (Kevin's sister) Joanne. For series 15 in 2017, Clifton was partnered with Scottish comedian Susan Calman. Calman expressed her great delight at the partnering with Clifton, of whom she is a fan. They were eliminated on week 10, after a dance-off against Alexandra Burke and

Gorka Márquez Gorka Márquez (; born 4 September 1990) is a Spanish professional dancer, best known for appearing on the British dance show ''Strictly Come Dancing''. Early life Márquez began dancing at the age of 12, and in 2010 he represented Spain at the ...

. This was the first time Clifton did not make it to final. For series 16, in 2018, Clifton was partnered with English television presenter and journalist,

. The couple were the series winners. He partnered TV host

Anneka Rice Anne Lucinda Hartley Rice (born 4 October 1958), known professionally as Anneka Rice, is a Welsh-born television and radio presenter, broadcaster, journalist and painter. Early life and education Rice was born in Cowbridge, Glamorgan, Wale ...

for the series seventeen, in 2019, they were the second couple to be eliminated after the judges chose to save David James and

Nadiya Bychkova Nadiya Bychkova ( uk, Надія Бичкова) (born 24 August 1989) is a Ukrainian ballroom and Latin American dancer who is a multiple-time Slovenian Ballroom and Latin Champion and two-time World and European Champion in ‘10’ Dance. In 20 ...

; making this Clifton's shortest series to date. He did however return to dance with former footballer Alex Scott for weeks 6 & 7 while Scott's normal partner Neil Jones was recovering from an injury to his

Calf muscle The triceps surae consists of two muscles located at the calf – the two-headed gastrocnemius and the soleus. These muscles both insert into the calcaneus, the bone of the heel of the human foot, and form the major part of the muscle of the ...

. Following this series, Clifton chose to quit the show to “focus on other projects”.

Series 11 with celebrity partner
Susanna Reid Susanna Reid (born 10 December 1970) is an English television presenter and journalist. She was a co-presenter of ''BBC Breakfast'' from 2003 until 2014 alongside Bill Turnbull and Charlie Stayt. In 2013, she finished as a runner-up on the elev ...

Series 12 with celebrity partner
Frankie Bridge Francesca Bridge ( Sandford, born 14 January 1989) is an English singer, formerly a member of S Club Juniors and a member of girl group The Saturdays. She is signed to Fascination and Polydor labels. Bridge began her career when she auditioned ...

¹ Week 3 featured Donny Osmond as a guest judge, he scored Frankie and Kevin a 10, making their official total 45

Series 13 with celebrity partner
Kellie Bright Kellie Denise Bright (born 1 July 1976) is an English actress. Her roles include Linda Carter in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', for which she won the 2015 British Soap Award for Best Actress and Best Dramatic Performance, Julie in ''Ali G ...

Series 14 with celebrity partner
Louise Redknapp Louise Elizabeth Redknapp (née Nurding, born 4 November 1974) is an English singer, songwriter and media personality. She was a member of Eternal, an R&B girl group which debuted in 1993 with their quadruple-platinum studio album '' Always & ...

Series 15 with celebrity partner Susan Calman

¹ In Week 5,

Bruno Tonioli Bruno Tonioli (; born 25 November 1955) is an Italian choreographer, ballroom and Latin dancer, and Television personality. He has appeared as a judge on the British television dance competition '' Strictly Come Dancing'' and American adaptatio ...

took a week off the show due to his work schedule.

Series 16 with celebrity partner
Stacey Dooley Stacey Jaclyn Dooley (born 9 March 1987) is an English television presenter, journalist, and media personality. She came to prominence in 2008 when she appeared as a participant on '' Blood, Sweat and T-shirts''. Since then, she has made socia ...

Alfonso Ribeiro Alfonso Lincoln Ribeiro (born September 21, 1971) is an American actor, comedian and television host. He is best known for his roles as Alfonso Spears on the sitcom ''Silver Spoons'', Carlton Banks on the NBC sitcom ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ...

stood as a guest judge in place of

Series 17 with celebrity partners
Anneka Rice Anne Lucinda Hartley Rice (born 4 October 1958), known professionally as Anneka Rice, is a Welsh-born television and radio presenter, broadcaster, journalist and painter. Early life and education Rice was born in Cowbridge, Glamorgan, Wale ...
& Alex Scott

After fellow professional Neil Jones was injured, Clifton also partnered professional footballer Alex Scott in weeks 6 and 7.

Dance tours and other professional engagements

In August 2017, Kevin &

Karen Clifton Karen Hauer Wyn-Jones (formerly Clifton; born 20 April 1982) 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 ...

announced they would be touring the UK again in 2018 with their theatre tour 'Kevin and Karen Dance', following their first nationwide tour in 2017. He also played Stacee Jaxx in the 2018-19 UK Tour of

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and in September 2022, he will star in the UK Tour of Strictly Ballroom directed by Strictly Judge

Craig Revel Horwood Craig Revel Horwood (born 4 January 1965) is an Australian-British author, dancer, choreographer, conductor, theatre director, and former drag queen in the United Kingdom. He is also a patron of the Royal Osteoporosis Society. Horwood is best ...

. He will star as the Artilleryman in the upcoming 2022 Tour of

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds ''Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds'' is a studio double album by American-born British musician, composer, and record producer Jeff Wayne, released on 9 June 1978 by CBS Records. It is an album musical adapted from the sci ...

from March to April.

Personal life

Clifton grew up in the small North East Lincolnshire town of Waltham, attending the East Ravendale Primary school, where he was notable for his

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

impressions. He later attended

Caistor Grammar School Caistor Grammar School is a selective school with academy status in the English town of Caistor in the county of Lincolnshire, England. The school was founded in 1630. It has since grown to be one of the most respected and highest performing sch ...

, doing well academically before choosing to pursue his dance career rather than attend the sixth form. Clifton has been married three times. His first marriage was to a dance partner when he was 20 years old. He then married professional dancer Clare Craze. They split up in 2010 and their divorce was finalised in 2013. He then married fellow professional dancer Karen Hauer, having proposed to her on her birthday, on stage during a performance of ''Burn the Floor''. They wed on 11 July 2015. On 15 March 2018, Clifton confirmed he and Karen Hauer were no longer together romantically. In 2019, it was confirmed that Clifton was dating his most recent '' Strictly Come Dancing'' celebrity partner

. It was announced via Twitter on 26 August 2022 that they were expecting their first child together. In January 2023, Dooley gave birth to their daughter named Minnie.

Business career

Clifton currently owns a

property investment Real estate investing involves the purchase, management and sale or rental of real estate for profit. Someone who actively or passively invests in real estate is called a real estate entrepreneur or a real estate investor. Some investors actively ...

business with a friend, describing it in an interview as a 'second career'.

Philanthropy

As well as taking part in various charity campaigns and visits in his role as a Strictly professional, Clifton is also a patron of the Wheelchair DanceSport Association and the 2014 Dance Proms.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clifton, Kevin Living people 1982 births Strictly Come Dancing winners People from the Borough of North East Lincolnshire People educated at Caistor Grammar School British ballroom dancers English businesspeople in property 21st-century English businesspeople