Peta Jane Murgatroyd (born 14 July 1986) is a New Zealand-born Australian and American professional

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 ...

r. She performed in the international tour of the dance production ''

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 ...

'', including its Broadway run. She is best known for her appearances on the American edition 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 ...

'', which she and her partners have won twice.

Early life

Murgatroyd was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand, but moved to Australia when she was 18 months old; as a result, she considers herself more of an Australian. She was raised in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia, and started studying classical ballet at age 4. She trained for 12 years under former principal dancer of the Kirov Ballet, Madame Lubov Nikonorenko. An ankle injury at 16 years old forced Murgatroyd to give up ballet. She then picked up Latin dancing.

Career

Within months of beginning ballroom training, Murgatroyd became the W.A. Amateur Latin State Champion in 2002 and won the title again in 2003. She placed second in the Great World City Championships. Success at other competitions followed quickly; she was a semi-finalist in the Lion City Championships in Singapore and was a finalist in the Australian Open Championships. She placed third in the world at the

Blackpool Dance Festival The 8-day Blackpool Dance Festival is the world's first and most famous annual ballroom dance competition of international significance, held in the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, England since 1920. It is also the largest bal ...

Youth Under 21 Latin competitions in 2005. In 2018, she starred alongside Robert Krantz in the heartwarming, faith-based movie '' Faith, Hope & Love'' where she played the owner of a dance studio who is paired with a widower of two girls, in an amateur dancing contest.

''Burn the Floor''

Murgatroyd joined the cast of ''

'' in 2004, touring with them around the world for six years. When ''Burn the Floor'' landed on Broadway in August 2009, Murgatroyd was the lead female dancer.

''Dancing with the Stars''

Murgatroyd joined the cast of ''

'' in 2011 as a member of the dance troupe in season 12. She became a regular member of the professional cast as of season 13.

''Dancing with the Stars'' (Season 13)

In season 13, Murgatroyd competed on the show as a professional with basketball player

Metta World Peace Metta Sandiford-Artest (born Ronald William Artest Jr.; November 13, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. He was known as Ron Artest before legally changing his name to Metta World Peace in 2011 and later to Metta Sandifor ...

. They were the first couple eliminated off the show.

''Dancing with the Stars'' (Season 14)

In 2012, Murgatroyd was again featured as a professional dancer competing on season 14 as the partner of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player

Donald Driver Donald Jerome Driver (born February 2, 1975) is a former American football wide receiver. After playing college football for Alcorn State University, Driver was picked by the Green Bay Packers in the seventh round of the 1999 NFL Draft. ...

. On 22 May, it was announced that the couple was the winner of the competition. She is the second professional to win after finishing last the prior season, after

Kym Johnson Kym Herjavec (née Johnson; born 4 August 1976) is an Australian professional ballroom dancer and television performer who appeared in the first three seasons of the Australian version of ''Dancing with the Stars'' as a professional dancer, b ...

''Dancing with the Stars'' (Season 15)

For season 15, Murgatroyd was partnered with actor and season 8 runner up

Gilles Marini Gilles Marini (; born 26 January 1976) is a French actor known for his roles in the film ''Sex and the City'', and in the American television shows '' Brothers & Sisters'', '' Switched at Birth'' and ''Devious Maids''. He was also the runner-up i ...

. They ended up in sixth place.

''Dancing with the Stars'' (Season 16)

In 2013, Murgatroyd was again featured as a professional dancer competing on season 16 as the partner of '' The Bachelor'' star Sean Lowe. They landed in sixth place.

''Dancing with the Stars'' (Season 17)

For

season 17 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

, Murgatroyd was paired with ''

Pretty Little Liars ''Pretty Little Liars'' is an American mystery teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Sara Shepard. Developed by I. Marlene King, the series was broadcast on Freeform between June 8, 2010, and June ...

'' actor

Brant Daugherty Brant David Daugherty (born August 20, 1985) is an American actor, known for his recurring role as Noel Kahn on the teen drama television series ''Pretty Little Liars''. In 2013, he had a recurring role as Brian in the NBC daytime drama ''Days o ...

. They were the sixth couple eliminated on 4 November 2013.

''Dancing with the Stars'' (Season 18)

In 2014, Murgatroyd was again featured as a professional dancer competing on season 18 partnered with ''

Big Time Rush ''Big Time Rush'' is an American musical sitcom television series created by Scott Fellows that originally aired on Nickelodeon from November 28, 2009, to July 25, 2013 and is currently available in Paramount+. It focuses on the Hollywood misa ...

'' member

James Maslow James David Maslow (born July 16, 1990) is an American actor, singer and dancer. He played the role of James Diamond on Nickelodeon's ''Big Time Rush'', had roles in '' Getaway'' and ''The Frozen Ground'', and is a member of the boyband Big Time ...

. They made it to the finale but came in fourth place. ¹The guest judges were Robin Roberts (Week 3),

Julianne Hough Julianne Alexandra Hough (; born July 20, 1988) is an American dancer, actress, and singer. In 2007, she joined the cast of ABC's ''Dancing with the Stars'' as a professional dancer, winning two seasons with her celebrity partners. After leaving ...

(Week 4),

Donny Osmond Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host, and former teen idol. He first gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gol ...

(Week 5),

Redfoo Stefan Kendal Gordy (born September 3, 1975), better known by his stage name Redfoo, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, record producer and DJ best known for being part of the musical duo LMFAO, and for their hit songs "Par ...

(Week 6),

Ricky Martin Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography spanning ...

(Week 7),

Abby Lee Miller Abigale Lee Miller (born September 21, 1965) is an American television personality who founded the Abby Lee Dance Company, which appeared on the reality television series ''Dance Moms'' for eight seasons. On June 27, 2016, Miller pleaded guilty ...

(Week 8) and

Kenny Ortega Kenneth John Ortega (born April 18, 1950) is an American filmmaker, touring manager, and choreographer. He is known for directing the films '' Newsies'', '' Hocus Pocus'', ''The Cheetah Girls 2'', ''High School Musical'', ''Michael Jackson's Th ...

(Week 9). ²For this week only, as part of the "Partner Switch-Up" week, Maslow performed with

Cheryl Burke Cheryl Burke (born May 3, 1984) is an American dancer, model, and television host. She is best known for being a professional dancer on ABC's '' Dancing with the Stars''. She was the first female professional to win the show and the first prof ...

instead of Murgatroyd; Murgatroyd danced a

rumba The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba ...

with Olympic

ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

champion Charlie White, scoring a 33 (7, 8, 9, 9).

''Dancing with the Stars'' (Season 19)

For season 19, Murgatroyd paired with comedian and actor

Tommy Chong Thomas B. Kin Chong (born May 24, 1938) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, musician, activist. He is known for his marijuana-themed Cheech & Chong comedy albums and movies with Cheech Marin, as well as playing the character Leo on Fox's ' ...

. The couple made it to the Semi-finals, but were then eliminated and finished in 5th place. ¹Week 3 score given by guest judge

Kevin Hart Kevin Darnell Hart (born July 6, 1979) is an American comedian and actor. Originally known as a stand-up comedian, he has since starred in Hollywood films and on TV. He has also released several well-received comedy albums. After winning se ...

in place of Goodman. ²The American public scored the dance in place of Goodman with the averaged score being counted alongside the three other judges. ³This week only, for "Partner Switch-Up" week, Chong performed with

Emma Slater Emma Slater (born December 25, 1988) is an English-American professional dancer and choreographer. She is best known for her appearances on '' Dancing with the Stars''. Personal life Emma Slater was raised in Tamworth, Staffordshire, England, ...

instead of Murgatroyd. Murgatroyd performed with Jonathan Bennett. ⁴Score given by guest judge

Jessie J Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), known professionally as Jessie J, is an English singer. Born and raised in London, she began her career on stage, aged 11, with a role in the West End musical '' Whistle Down the Wind''. She studied ...

in place of Goodman. ⁵Score given by guest judge

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

in place of Goodman.

''Dancing with the Stars'' (Season 20)

For season 20, Murgatroyd was partnered with football player

Michael Sam Michael Alan Sam Jr. (born January 7, 1990) is an American professional football defensive lineman for the Barcelona Dragons in the European League of Football. A defensive end, Sam played college football for the Missouri Tigers and was drafted ...

. The couple was eliminated on Week 4 and finished in 10th place.

''Dancing with the Stars'' (Season 21)

On 19 August 2015, ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'' announced Murgatroyd would be one of the pro dancers on the upcoming

season 21 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

of ''

''. However, before the season premiered, Murgatroyd was forced to sit this season out due to an ongoing ankle injury. Murgatroyd told ''People'' magazine she had four torn ligaments and a floating piece of bone in her ankle which would require surgery and six to eight weeks of recovery time. Murgatroyd would have been partnered with singer

Andy Grammer Andrew Charles Grammer (born December 3, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is signed to S-Curve Records. His debut album, ''Andy Grammer'', was released in 2011 and spawned the singles " Keep Your Head Up" and " Fi ...

. Murgatroyd returned to the show during the season 21 semifinals, performing a salsa trio with Backstreet Boy Nick Carter and

Sharna Burgess Sharna May Burgess (born 21 June 1985) is an Australian ballroom dancer who is best known for being a professional partner and troupe member on the ABC series ''Dancing with the Stars''. She is the winner of season 27 of American television sh ...

. The group received a score of 30 for the dance.

''Dancing with the Stars'' (Season 22)

Murgatroyd returned for

season 22 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

and was partnered with deaf model and actor

Nyle DiMarco Nyle DiMarco (born May 8, 1989) is an American model, actor, and deaf activist. In 2015, DiMarco was the winner of The CW's reality television series ''America's Next Top Model'' in season 22, becoming the second male winner and the first deaf wi ...

. On 24 May 2016, Murgatroyd and DiMarco were crowned the season's champions. Murgatroyd did not return for season 23 due to her pregnancy. ¹ Score given by guest judge

Zendaya Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman ( ; born September 1, 1996) is an American actress and singer. She has received various accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the ...

.
² For this week only, as part of "America's Switch Up", DiMarco performed with

instead of Murgatroyd. Murgatroyd performed with

Doug Flutie Douglas Richard Flutie (born October 23, 1962) is an American former football quarterback whose professional career spanned 21 seasons. He played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), eight seasons in the Canadian Football League (CF ...

.
³ Score given by guest judge

Maksim Chmerkovskiy Maksim "Maks" Aleksandrovich Chmerkovskiy ( uk, Максим Олександрович Чмерковський ; born January 17, 1980) is a Ukrainian-American Latin–ballroom dance champion, choreographer, and instructor. He is widely known ...

.
⁴ Due to Tonioli being the judge coaching DiMarco's team during the team-up dance, the viewers scored the dance in his place with the averaged score being counted alongside the remaining judges.

''Dancing with the Stars'' (Season 24)

In February 2017, Murgatroyd and her fiancé Maksim Chmerkovskiy announced they would both return. She was partnered with '' The Bachelor'' star

Nick Viall Nicholas Joseph Viall (born September 28, 1980) is an American actor, television personality and model who had a starring role on the 21st season of ABC's ''The Bachelor'', after finishing as runner-up in two consecutive seasons of ''The Bachelor ...

. ¹ Score given by guest judge Nick Carter
² Score given by guest judge

Mandy Moore Amanda Leigh Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her debut single, "Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her debut studio album, '' So Real'' (1999), recei ...

''Dancing with the Stars'' (Season 25)

Murgatroyd returned once again for season 25 and was paired with

98 Degrees 98 Degrees (stylized as 98°) is an American pop and R&B vocal group consisting of four vocalists: the group's founding member Jeff Timmons, brothers Nick and Drew Lachey, and Justin Jeffre. The group was formed by Timmons in Los Angeles, Cali ...

singer

Nick Lachey Nicholas Scott Lachey ( ; born November 9, 1973) is an American singer, actor, television personality, and host. He rose to fame as the lead singer of the multi-platinum-selling boyband 98 Degrees, and later starred in the reality series '' Newl ...

.
¹ Score from guest judge

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( , ; née Edwards; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-s ...

''Dancing with the Stars'' (Season 28)

Murgatroyd returned to the show after a two-season hiatus and was paired with former basketball player

Lamar Odom Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. As a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he won championships in 2009 and 2010 and was named the NBA Sixt ...

. ¹ Score given by guest judge Leah Remini.

''Dancing with the Stars'' (Season 29)

Murgatroyd returned for

season 29 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...

and was paired with former NFL player

Vernon Davis Vernon Davis (born January 31, 1984) is a former American football tight end. He played college football at Maryland, and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers sixth overall in the 2006 NFL Draft. In 2009, Davis co-led the NFL in touchdown rec ...

''Dancing with the Stars'' (Season 31)

Murgatroyd returned to the show after a one-season hiatus and was paired with actor Jason Lewis. They were the first couple eliminated from the competition.

''Dancing with the Stars: Live!''

In April 2015, it was announced Murgatroyd would take part in the ''Dancing with the Stars: Live!'' "Perfect Ten" tour during the summer of 2015. On 25 June 2015 the official Dancing with the Stars Twitter account announced Murgatroyd would be taking a short break from the tour due to an ankle injury. Murgatroyd again joined the ''Dancing with the Stars: Live!'' for the "Dance All Night" tour in winter 2015–2016. The tour was scheduled to stop in 43 cities.

Sway: A Dance Trilogy

In 2014 Murgatroyd started performing in ''Sway: A Dance Trilogy'' in Westbury, New York alongside

. Chmerkovskiy credits his father Sasha with the idea for Sway. Sway is a live ballroom dance show starring Maksim, his brother Valentin, and Tony Dovolani. The show also features Murgatroyd, other professional dancers from ''Dancing with the Stars'' and ''So You think You Can Dance'', and dance instructors from Dance with Me studios.

Personal life

Murgatroyd dated Australian professional ballroom dancer and former ''DWTS'' cast member

Damian Whitewood Damian Whitewood is an Australian dancer and former dancesport competitor. Background Born and raised in Perth, Western Australia Damian was first introduced to ballroom dancing at the age of 10 through his older brother. His mother was also a ...

for five years before breaking up in early 2012. She had been dating ''DWTS'' pro

off and on since 2012. In 2015, Chmerkovskiy confirmed he and Murgatroyd were dating again. Chmerkovskiy and Murgatroyd became engaged on 5 December 2015, when he proposed while onstage for a performance of ''Sway: A Dance Trilogy'' in Miami, Florida. Their son, Shai, was born on 4 January 2017. The two were married on 8 July 2017 at

Oheka Castle Oheka Castle, also known as the Otto Kahn Estate, is a hotel located on the North Shore of Long Island, in West Hills, New York, also known as the "Gold Coast," a hamlet in the town of Huntington. It was the country home of investment financi ...

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

. In June 2022, Murgatroyd revealed that she suffered three

miscarriages Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical lo ...

between 2020 and 2021 and that she was undergoing

invitro fertilization In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) ...

to try to have another child. In early 2023, it was revealed that she is pregnant with the couple's second child after experiencing a natural conception. On 10 October 2019, she was sworn in as a US citizen.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murgatroyd, Peta 1986 births Living people 21st-century Australian dancers Australian ballroom dancers Australian emigrants to the United States Australian female dancers Dancing with the Stars (American TV series) winners Naturalized citizens of the United States New Zealand emigrants to Australia People from Auckland People from Perth, Western Australia People with acquired American citizenship