Brendan Cole

Brendan Cole
Born	(1976-04-23) 23 April 1976 Christchurch, New Zealand
Nationality	New Zealand
Occupation	Professional Ballroom Dancer

Brendan Cole (born 23 April 1976 in Christchurch, New Zealand) is a ballroom dancer specialising in Latin American dancing. He has appeared on the BBC show Strictly Come Dancing, a dance contest in which a professional ballroom dancer is partnered with a celebrity amateur dancer. He has also judged three seasons of New Zealand's own Dancing with the Stars.

He has danced since he was six, and came to the United Kingdom when he was nineteen. Before he danced professionally he worked as a builder.

He danced with Camilla Dallerup, a fellow contestant on the BBC's earlier long-running show Come Dancing, as amateurs from 1996, and from 2002-2004 as professionals. They competed for New Zealand: Camilla Dallerup is Danish-born. In 2003 Dallerup and Cole were placed 3rd for Latin American at the UK Closed Championships. During the professional group dances on Strictly Come Dancing, Brendan danced with Karen Hardy for series 3 to 5 then with fellow New Zealander, Hayley Holt, for series 6. His celebrity partner for series six was Lisa Snowdon, with whom he reached the final to be placed third.

In the winter of 2004 Brendan had his first acting experience featuring in the UK feature film Everything To Dance For alongside Sasha Jackson, Travis Oliver and Sally Reeve.

In summer 2006, he joined ITV's Love Island and became the runner-up when the show ended on August 28, 2006. Also on that year, he appeared as guest judge on fourth episode of Britain's Next Top Model, Cycle 2 where he worked with the remaining 10 contestants to teach ballroom dancing prior to judging.

In January 2007, Brendan appeared on the BBC's duet show Just the Two of Us as a celebrity, with Beverley Knight as his professional partner. They came second.

Cole has appeared on all seven series to date of Strictly Come Dancing. Particularly in the third and fourth series, he has often clashed with the judges over their scoring and comments on his performances. He has on occasion deliberately broken the rules by incorporating illegal lifts into his choreography, and as a result has often been dubbed the "bad boy of Strictly".

Brendan represented the United Kingdom at the first Eurovision Dance Contest in September 2007. His dance partner was Camilla Dallerup. The couple were highly praised by British judges yet only managed to finish fifteenth out of the sixteen entrants.

In 2010 he was a celebrity guest team captain on What Do Kids Know? along with Rufus Hound, Joe Swash and Sara Cox on Watch.

Personal life

Prior to his dancing with Natasha Kaplinsky, in the first series of Strictly Come Dancing, Camilla and Brendan were engaged, but she broke it off, claiming, "I'd been with Brendan almost every day, all the time, for more than eight years and then he changed overnight. I think he was starstruck ...everything changed because of her (Natasha Kaplinsky)."

Brendan's previous relationships have included Shelly Ross, Abi Titmuss, Lady Victoria Hervey, Martine McCutcheon and Adele Silva.

He is now married to Zoe Hobbs, a British model.

Televised competitions

• First place in the first season of Strictly Come Dancing partnered with newsreader, Natasha Kaplinsky.
• Sixth place in the second season of Strictly Come Dancing with Casualty star, Sarah Manners.
• Ninth place in the third series of Strictly Come Dancing with GMTV's Fiona Phillips.
• Sixth place in the fourth series of Strictly Come Dancing with actress, Claire King.
• Withdrew from the fifth series of Strictly Come Dancing with model, Kelly Brook. Kelly's father had died during the week. Kelly had said she would carry on dancing in memory of him, but it was later revealed, she found it too hard to continue.
• Third place in the sixth series of Strictly Come Dancing with celebrity partner, Lisa Snowdon, a supermodel and television presenter.
• His partner for Strictly Come Dancing Series 7 was estranged wife of Ronnie Wood, Jo Wood. Brendan & Jo were eliminated in Week 6 for their Samba placing them 11th overall.
• For Strictly Come Dancing Series 8, Brendan was partnered with American Broadway-actress singer Michelle Williams.

During his time on Strictly Come Dancing Brendan has performed professional dances with

• Camilla Dallerup for Series 1.
• Nicole Cutler for Series 2.
• Karen Hardy for Series 3-5.
• Hayley Holt for Series 6.
• Katya Virshilas for Series 7-.

Charity work

Brendan has supported several charity functions including children's anti-bullying campaigning group Act Against Bullying.

External links

• BBC website for Strictly Come Dancing
• Brendan's website
• Brendan Cole at the Silverstone Classic 2010