Arlene Phillips is an English choreographer and theatre director who also gained popularity as a television judge and presenter more precisely known to be the former judge on the BBC television show, “Strictly Come Dancing“. She was the judge on the show from 2004 to 2009. She has also worked as a judge on a reality dance show, “So You Think You Can Dance“.
Renowned to be the choreographer of several West End and Broadway musicals, films, and television shows, Arlene rose to fame initially as a choreographer for the British dance troupe, “Hot Gossip”.
At the age of 78, she became the oldest contestant to appear on ITV’s twenty-first series of “I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!” in November 2021.
Besides, she is active on social media sites with over 99.9k followers on her verified Twitter account: @@arlenephillips and over 27k followers on Instagram: @arlenephillips.
What is Arlene Phillips famous for?
- Famous as a television show judge and choreographer.
Source: @telegraph
Where is Arlene Phillips from?
Arlene Phillips was born on May 22, 1943, in Prestwich, Lancashire, England. Her birth name is Dame Arlene Phillips. She holds British nationality. Her ethnicity is White while Gemini is her zodiac sign.
Born and raised in her hometown, Lancashire, Arlene developed an interest in ballet dancing at a very young age that she even had begun dance classes at age of 3. Her mother who had always expressed a desire to dance was Arlene’s biggest inspiration, however, died at age of 43 following her suffering of leukemia.
Growing up alongside her two siblings; a brother, Ian, and a sister, Karen, she attended Broughton Preparatory School, Cheetham Hill, Manchester, Beaver Road Primary School, Didsbury, and Manchester Central High School for Girls. She however left school at age of 16 and then joined the ballet and tap dance at the Muriel Tweedy School in Manchester.
Arlene Phillips’s Career: Highlights
- Arlene started her career as a choreographer and a teacher as she went to teach her style of jazz dance at The Dance Centre(Pineapple Dance Studios) in Covent Garden.
- She also went to teach at the Italia Conti Stage School.
- She rose to fame as a choreographer for the British dance troupe, “Hot Gossip”.
- She then worked as an assistant choreographer on the 1982 film, “Annie”.
- Her choreographer work for the Duran Duran song, “The Wild Boys” was also awarded the Best British Video at the 1985 BRIT Awards.
- In 1996, she was stage director on the opening run of Michael Flatley’s Irish dance show, Lord of the Dance.
- She choreographed the 2002 Commonwealth Games opening and closing ceremonies.
- Her breakthrough came when she began working as a judge on the BBC One show, “Strictly Come Dancing” in 2004. She remained a judge on the show for 4 years till 2008.
- She became the Executive Producer and Creative Director for the ITV television series, “Britannia High” in 2008.
- She was also one of the helping hands behind hit BBC shows, “DanceX” and “Strictly Dance Fever”.
- She has also been a judge on the UK version of “So You Think You Can Dance?”.
- She choreographed the performance of the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009.
- In 2010, Phillips wrote a series of children’s fiction books.
- She appeared on Let’s Dance For Comic Relief in the Dance Judge Panel in 2013.
- She recently appeared as the oldest celebrity on ITV’s twenty-first series of “I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!”.
Source: @metro
Honors and Awards
- Appointed as the Officer of the Order of the British Empire(OBE)
- Commander of the Order of the British Empire(CBE) and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire(DBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to dance and charity
Source: @gettyimages
Arlene Phillips’s Marriage, Relationships
Arlene Phillips is a married woman and has been married twice to date. Her first marriage was with fashion designer Danny Noble, with whom she got married even with a huge age gap of 9 years as she was 27 and he was 18 at the time of their marriage.
Through her first marriage, she had a daughter named Alana Philips. Following her divorce from Danny, she got married to her partner, Angus Ion with whom she has been together since 1985.
Source: @thesun
Angus was working as a set designer on the set of the music video for Freddie Mercury’s song, I Was Born to Love You when the couple met each other for the first time. They soon started dating and eventually got married. Arlene was 47 years old when she was pregnant with her second and first child with Angus.
The couple is living a happy life together alongside their children; Abi Ion and Alana Phillips.
Source: @mirror
Arlene Phillips Net Worth
Arlene Phillips has quite good earnings from her career as a choreographer and Television show judge. Having started her career as a choreographer in her mid-teens, she has come a long way up becoming one of the popular faces in the dance industry.
Her source of income is surely her choreographing fees and her appearances as a judge. Including all of her earnings, her estimated net worth is $1.2 million.
Arlene Phillips Height
Arlene Phillips is a beautiful lady with a well-maintained body physique in her 70s. Phillips stands tall with a height of 5ft 3inches(1.60m) while her body weighs around 56kg(123 lbs).
She is a beautiful woman with brown hair and a pair of brown eyes.
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