Brendan Cole

Brendan Cole (born April 23, 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. Dallerup now dances with Ian Waite, who also appears on "Strictly", and Brendan has no current dance partner although during the professional group dances on Strictly Come Dancing, he danced with Karen Hardy for series 2 to 5 then with fellow New Zealander, Hayley Holt, for series 6.

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 everyday, 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] ." Fact|date=October 2007

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.

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

Cole has appeared on all six 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.

He is currently dating 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 second season of "Strictly Come Dancing" with Sarah Manners (who plays Bex Reynolds on the television series "Casualty").
*Third place from both judges and popular vote in the "Strictly Come Dancing" Christmas Special (Champion Of Champions) again with Natasha Kaplinsky.
*Ninth place in the third series of "Strictly Come Dancing" with Fiona Phillips (TV presenter on GMTV).
*Sixth place in the fourth series of "Strictly Come Dancing" with actress Claire King.
*Withdrew from fifth series of "Strictly Come Dancing" with model Kelly Brook because Kelly's dad passed away.
*Fifteenth place in the first ever "Eurovision Dance Contest" with partner Camilla Dallerup when representing the United Kingdom
*Currently participating in the sixth series of Strictly Come Dancing with celebrity partner, Lisa Snowdon, a Supermodel.

Charity Work

Brendan has supported several charity functions includng children's anti-bullying campaigning group Act Against Bullying. [ [http://www.actagainstbullying.com/events/AAB%20Cup%202007.htm Untitled Document ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/strictlycomedancing/about/ BBC website for "Strictly Come Dancing"]
* [http://www.brendancole.com Brendan's website]