Nancy Xu YouJie
许茜
Born
Xu Qian

(1991-07-30) 30 July 1991 (age 32)
Hunan, China
Other namesNancy Shoes
Occupation(s)Dancer
Choreographer
Known forStrictly Come Dancing
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)[1]
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese許茜
Simplified Chinese许茜

Nancy Xu YouJie (Chinese: 许茜 SHOO;[2][3] born 30 July 1991) is a Chinese dancer and choreographer. She is best known for being a professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing since 2019.[4]

Early and personal life

Xu was born on 30 July 1991 in Hunan, China. She began dancing at the age of 8 and attended the Guangzhou Dancing School.[5][6]

Xu is dating bodyguard Mikee Michele, who is also a martial arts expert and choreographer.[7]

Career

Xu specialises in Latin dance 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.[8]

Xu appeared on the Chinese version of So You Think You Can Dance in 2014, where she reached the finals. In 2015, she joined the dance company Burn the Floor and performed around the world.[9][10]

Strictly Come Dancing

On 30 July 2019, her 28th birthday, Xu was announced as a new professional dancer joining the seventeenth series of Strictly Come Dancing.[4] Xu did not partner a celebrity and instead appeared in the professional group dances throughout the series.[11][12] Xu was however partnered with EastEnders actor Rudolph Walker for the 2019 Children in Need special where they danced a group Cha-Cha-Cha.[13] 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.[14]

Xu was given a partner for the first time in the nineteenth series when she was paired up with CBBC presenter Rhys Stephenson.[15] 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 and once with the Argentine tango, but were also in the dance-off four times.[16]

For the twentieth series she was partnered with actor Will Mellor. The couple made it to the semi-final, topping the leaderboard three times in the process, but were eliminated and finished in 5th place.

For the twenty-first series she was partnered with comedian and actor Les Dennis. They were the first couple to be eliminated, after losing the first dance-off of the series to Nikita Kanda and Gorka Márquez.

Series Partner Place Average Score
19 Rhys Stephenson 4th 34.2
20 Will Mellor 5th 33.3
21 Les Dennis 15th 15.5

Highest and Lowest Scoring Per Dance

Series 19: with celebrity partner Rhys Stephenson

Series 20: with celebrity partner Will Mellor

Series 21: with celebrity partner Les Dennis

Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special

Xu danced a Quickstep with Jamie Borthwick for the 2023 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special, achieving the maximum 40 points from the judges and winning the competition.[17]

References

  1. ^ Milward, Charlie (October 13, 2021). "Strictly professional dancer heights: How tall are the pros?". Express.co.uk.
  2. ^ Perry, Jana M. Sanders (September 20, 2022). "How to Pronounce Chinese Names | Services for International Students and Scholars". siss.ucdavis.edu.
  3. ^ "中国美女参加英国大赛倒数第二：不重要，我是来撒狗粮的（组图） | 今日悉尼". www.sydneytoday.com.
  4. ^ a b "Strictly Come Dancing: Nancy Xu named new professional dancer". BBC News. 30 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Nancy Xu". Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Strictly Come Dancing unveil new professional dancer meet the new star here!". Hello. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Strictly Come Dancing Nancy Xu: Professional dancer's age, background and boyfriend revealed". Smooth Radio. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Nancy Xu - BBC Strictly". Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Strictly Come Dancing 2019: Dancer Nancy Xu announced as new pro and she's already part of the family". Metro. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Burn the Floor - Current Cast". Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  11. ^ "Strictly Come Dancing new dancer Nancy Xu snubbed and left without partner". Daily Express. 7 September 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  12. ^ "Who is Nancy Xu? Strictly Come Dancing 2019 professional dancer guide". Radio Times. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  13. ^ "EastEnders star 'won't do splits' on charity Strictly". RTE. 30 October 2019.
  14. ^ "Strictly pro line-up reshuffle means it's high time to give Nancy a partner". Radio Times. 24 June 2021.
  15. ^ "Strictly coupling complete!". BBC. 18 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  16. ^ "Strictly's Rhys Stephenson breaks down after semi-final routine for heartwarming reason". HELLO! n. 11 December 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  17. ^ "Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2023 winner revealed". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-01-25.
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