Darren Bennett
Born
Darren Lee Bennett

(1977-02-14) 14 February 1977
Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England
OccupationDancer
SpouseLilia Kopylova (1999–present)

Darren Lee Bennett (born 14 February 1977) is an English professional dancer. With his wife Lilia Kopylova he has a successful career in professional Latin dancing, competing nationally and internationally. Darren's favourite dances are the Samba and the Foxtrot. They teach private lessons in their own studio at Sheffield, England.

Bennett was born in Sheffield. He first met Kopylova after his twin brother Dale, also a dancer, introduced them. In November 2005 Bennett and Kopylova won the British Championships for Professional Latin, coming first in all five dances. In November 2006 they successfully defended this title against a challenge from Olga Rodionova and Paul Richardson, who had been competing for the USA but had recently registered as a British couple. Bennett and Kopylova triumphed winning all five dances to retain the title.

In February 2008, Bennett and Kopylova were winners of the Carl Alan Award for Ballroom, Latin and Sequence (performers)- a prestigious title described by the IDTA as 'the Oscars of the world of dance'.[1]

The couple starred in a West End dance show, Latin Fever, which they choreographed themselves, as well as choosing the music and costumes to reflect the mood of each Latin dance.

Bennett is a consultant creative producer for the Dancing with the Stars (Irish Edition) TV show working alongside his wife and choreographer Lilia Kopylova.[2]

Strictly Come Dancing

He was one of the professional dancers on the BBC dancing television programme, Strictly Come Dancing. This is a summary of how well he has done in the show:

  • Series Two: Won with his partner, actress Jill Halfpenny.
  • Christmas Special: Won with his partner from series two, Jill Halfpenny.
  • Series Three: Knocked out in the third week with his partner, TV presenter Gloria Hunniford.
  • Series Four: Knocked out in the semi-final after competing with singer Emma Bunton. They also competed together in the 2006 Christmas Special, finished in third place overall (the remaining couples were not ranked).
  • Series Five: Knocked out in the quarter-final (fourth place) after competing with actress Letitia Dean. They also competed together in the 2007 Christmas Special, but were not placed in the final two overall (the remaining couples were not ranked).
  • Live Tour 2008: Competing at a series of venues during January and February 2008 with Series Five partner Letitia Dean, they won once (31 January 2008), and were runners up on two further occasions.[3] The tour was based on a similar format to the main series, with each couple performing two routines which were marked by the judges, and the audience being invited to vote for their favourite.
  • Series Six: Knocked out in the fourth week, dancing with EastEnders' Jessie Wallace. Won the 2008 Christmas Special with Jill Halfpenny, meaning they became two of the select few couples to win the Christmas Special twice.
  • On the 2009 Strictly Come Dancing Tour Darren was re-united with his Series 2 partner and champion Jill Halfpenny.
  • Series Seven: Knocked out in the fourth week, dancing with Actress and Loose Women presenter Lynda Bellingham

Highest- and lowest-scoring performances per dance

Performances

Year Celebrity partner Week # Dance Judges' scores
Horwood Phillips Goodman Tonioli Total
2004 Jill Halfpenny 1 Waltz 7 6 7 7 27
2 Rumba 8 8 8 8 32
3 Jive 8 9 9 9 35
4 Foxtrot 8 9 9 8 34
5 Samba 8 9 9 9 35
6 Quickstep 8 8 8 8 32
Cha-Cha-Cha 9 9 9 9 36
7 (semi-final) Tango 7 8 7 7 29
Paso Doble 9 10 9 9 37
8 (final)
(Winner)		 Foxtrot 9 8 9 8 34
Jive 10 10 10 10 40
2005 Gloria Hunniford 1 Waltz 4 5 7 6 22
2 Rumba 2 4 5 6 17
3 Jive 3 4 6 6 19
2006 Emma Bunton 2 Quickstep 8 8 8 9 33
3 Jive 8 8 8 9 33
4 Foxtrot 8 7 7 8 30
5 Viennese Waltz 8 9 8 9 34
6 Samba 9 9 9 9 36
7 Cha-Cha-Cha 7 7 7 9 30
8 American Smooth 8 8 9 9 34
9 Waltz 9 8 10 10 37
Paso Doble 9 9 9 10 37
10 Tango 9 8 9 9 35
Rumba 8 8 9 9 34
11 (semi-final)
(Third place)		 Argentine Tango 9 9 9 9 36
Salsa 8 7 9 9 33
2007 Letitia Dean 2 Rumba 4 6 7 6 23
3 Tango 6 7 7 7 27
4 American Smooth 7 8 8 8 31
5 Paso Doble 7 8 8 8 31
6 Salsa 6 6 7 6 25
7 Foxtrot 8 8 9 9 34
8 Viennese Waltz 8 8 7 9 32
9 Quickstep 7 7 8 8 30
Cha-Cha-Cha 6 6 7 7 26
10 Waltz 8 9 9 9 35
Jive 7 7 8 8 30
2008 Jessie Wallace 2 Salsa 4 4 6 6 20
4 Quickstep 3 5 5 6 19
Year Celebrity partner Week # Dance Judges' scores
Craig Revel Horwood Len Goodman Alesha Dixon Bruno Tonioli Total
2009 Lynda Bellingham 1 Tango 3 6 7 5 21
Cha-Cha-Cha 5 6 6 6 23
3 Paso Doble 5 7 7 6 25
4 Foxtrot 5 7 6 6 24

Other work

Darren along with wife Lilia have been heavily involved in the "Essentially Dance" scheme, with the intention to give all children within the UK a chance to experience ballroom and Latin dance, the scheme is funded by the Aldridge Foundation and was officially launched on 22 June 2009.

Darren joined the judging panel of the Lebanese edition of Dancing With The Stars for its first series in December 2012 and second series in November 2013 and third series in March 2015 and fourth series in November 2016.

References

  1. ↑ "The Oscars of the World of Dance". Archived from the original on 4 June 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
  2. ↑ "Darren & Lilia Creative | Creatives, Producers & Choreographers". www.darrenandlilia.com. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  3. ↑ "Previous Winners". Strictly Come Dancing Live!. Archived from the original on 21 March 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
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