Nancy Xu YouJie (; born 30 July 1991) is a Chinese dancer and choreographer. She is best known for being a professional dancer on ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') 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 usually 4 ...

'' since 2019.

Early and personal life

Xu was born on 30 July 1991 in

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

, China. She began dancing at the age of 8 and attended the Guangzhou Dancing School. Xu is dating bodyguard Mikee Michele, who is also a martial arts expert and choreographer.

Career

Xu specialises in

Latin dance Latin dance is a general label, and a term in partner dance competition jargon. It refers to types of ballroom dance and folk dance that mainly originated in Latin America. The category of Latin dances in the international dancesport competi ...

and was a finalist in the U21 World Championships in 2010, she finished in third place in the 2010-2012 CBDF National Amateur Latin Championships and was runner-up at the 2013 International Singapore Championship. Xu appeared on the Chinese version of ''

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 has ...

'' in 2014, where she reached the finals. In 2015, she joined the dance company ''

Burn the Floor Burn the Floor is a live dance show which has performed around the world, including on Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in New York City and the West End of London, West End in London. Since 1997, Burn the Floor has performed in over 130 countries w ...

'' and performed around the world.

''Strictly Come Dancing''

On 30 July 2019, her 28th birthday, Xu was announced as a new professional dancer joining the seventeenth series of ''

''. Xu did not partner a celebrity and instead appeared in the professional group dances throughout the series. Xu was however partnered with ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'' actor

Rudolph Walker Rudolph Malcolm Walker (born 28 September 1939) is a Trinidadian-British actor, known for his sitcom roles as Bill Reynolds in ''Love Thy Neighbour'' (1972–76) and Constable Frank Gladstone in '' The Thin Blue Line'' (1995–96). Since 2001, ...

for the 2019 Children in Need special where they danced a group Cha-Cha-Cha. Xu returned as a professional for the eighteenth series however was not paired up with a celebrity for the second time and remained part of the dance troupe. Xu was given a partner for the first time in the nineteenth series when she was paired up with

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

presenter

Rhys Stephenson Rhys Stephenson (born 29 October 1993) is an English television presenter and actor. He has presented on CBBC since 2016. Early life Stephenson was born in Lewisham, London. He began starring in school theatre productions at the age of ten. He ...

. The couple were eliminated in the semi-final, coming 4th in the competition. The couple had topped the leader-board twice, once with the

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

and once with the

Argentine tango Argentine tango is a musical genre and accompanying social dance originating at the end of the 19th century in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. It typically has a or rhythmic time signature, and two or three parts repeating in patterns such as AB ...

, but were also in the dance-off four times. For the twentieth series she was partnered with actor

Will Mellor William Mellor (born 3 April 1976) is an English actor, singer and model. He is known for his roles as Jambo Bolton in ''Hollyoaks'', Gaz Wilkinson in '' Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps'', Warren Stamp in EastEnders, DC Spike Tanne ...

. The couple made it to the semi-final, topping the leaderboard three times in the process, but were eliminated and finished in 5th place.

Series 19: with celebrity partner Rhys Stephenson

* number indicates that Rhys and Nancy were at the top of the leaderboard. * number indicates that Rhys and Nancy were at the bottom of the leaderboard. * *Score awarded by guest judge

Cynthia Erivo Cynthia Erivo (; born 8 January 1987) is an English actress, singer, and songwriter. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Grammy Award and a Tony Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Awa ...

Series 20: with celebrity partner Will Mellor

* number indicates that Will and Nancy were at the top of the leaderboard.

References

Living people 1991 births Chinese female dancers People from Hunan {{dance-bio-stub