Joanne Clifton facts for kids

Joanne Kirsty Clifton was born on October 24, 1983. She is a talented British professional dancer, TV presenter, actress, and singer. She has won many dance championships, including the World Ballroom Showdance Championship in 2014. She also won the European Professional Ballroom Championship and the World Dancesport Games.

From 2014 to 2016, Joanne was a professional dancer on the popular BBC TV show Strictly Come Dancing. She even won the show in 2016 with her partner, Ore Oduba. She also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two as an expert.

After leaving Strictly, Joanne started a successful career in musical theatre. She has starred in big stage shows like Shrek the Musical and The Addams Family.

Dancing Achievements

Joanne Clifton began dancing ballroom and Latin styles when she was a young child. Her parents, Keith and Judy Clifton, were former world champion dancers and taught her in their home village of Waltham.

She competed both in the UK and around the world from a young age. At first, she danced with her brother, Kevin Clifton. Later, she decided to focus on ballroom dancing so she wouldn't compete directly against him.

Joanne has been a British Champion five times and an Italian Champion three times. She won the Professional Ballroom European Champion title in 2012. In 2013, she became the Professional World Dancesport Games Champion.

In 2000, Joanne moved to Bologna, Italy, to train at Team Diablo, one of Europe's largest dance schools. She danced with Paolo Bosco from 2011. Together, they won the World Dancesport Games in Taiwan in 2013. They also won the World Professional Ballroom Showdance Championships in Italy that same year. Joanne stopped competitive dancing in December 2013.

In 2014, she joined the Burn the Floor Dance Company with her brother. They performed in Australia and Japan.

Strictly Come Dancing Journey

In 2014, Joanne Clifton became a professional dancer on the BBC show Strictly Come Dancing. Her first partner was DJ Scott Mills. They danced until week six of the competition.

For the next series, she was still part of the professional team but did not have a celebrity partner for the main show. However, she won the Children in Need special with actor Stephen McGann. She also won the Christmas Special with Harry Judd, who had won a previous series.

Joanne returned as a full-time professional for the fourteenth series of Strictly. She was paired with TV presenter Ore Oduba. On December 17, 2016, they were crowned the winners of the series. This was Joanne's first win of the main show.

On June 21, 2017, Joanne announced she was leaving Strictly Come Dancing. She wanted to focus on her career in musical theatre after three years on the show.

Stage Performances

In 2015, Joanne Clifton started her musical theatre career in Face the Music. She played the role of Street Walker.

In 2016, she played the famous actress Marilyn Monroe in Norma Jean The Musical.

Since then, Joanne has played many lead roles in UK tours of popular musicals:

• In 2017, she was Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie.
• She also played Alex Owens in Flashdance the Musical.
• From 2017 to 2018, she was Dale Tremont in Top Hat.
• In 2019, she starred as Janet Weiss in The Rocky Horror Show.
• In 2021, she played Morticia Adams in The Addams Family.
• In 2023, she toured as Princess Fiona in Shrek the Musical.
• In 2024, she played Velma von Tussle in Hairspray.

About Joanne's Life

Joanne grew up in Waltham, a small village in North East Lincolnshire. She lived there with her older brother, Kevin Clifton, and her parents, Judy and Keith Clifton. She went to East Ravendale Primary School and Caistor Grammar School.

Since 2020, Joanne has been in a relationship with fellow stage actor, AJ Jenks.

See also

In Spanish: Joanne Clifton para niños