Arlene Phillips

Arlene Phillips, born on 22 May 1943 in Prestwich, Lancashire, England, is a choreographer, theatre director, dancer, television judge, and presenter. She grew up in Manchester, attending Broughton Preparatory School in Cheetham Hill, Beaver Road Primary School in Didsbury, and Manchester Central High School for Girls, which she entered after passing the eleven-plus exam. Phillips began dance training at the age of three, initially pursuing ballet, and at sixteen left school to study ballet and tap dance at the Muriel Tweedy School in Manchester on a grant from the local council. Her mother, who had long wished to dance herself, died of leukaemia at age 43 when Phillips was fifteen, an event that deepened her commitment to a professional dance career.

After moving to London in her mid-teens, Phillips developed a personal style of jazz dance shaped by the American Modern Jazz idiom then prevalent in the city. She went on to teach at The Dance Centre — later known as Pineapple Dance Studios in Covent Garden — and at the Italia Conti Stage School, establishing herself as both a teacher and choreographer. In 1974, she founded Hot Gossip, a British dance troupe whose performances were considered risqué at the time. The group spent two years performing in a London nightclub while Phillips and her manager refined the act, and it was through Hot Gossip that Phillips first became widely known in Britain. That same year, 1974, she appeared on Broadway in Flowers, marking her credited Broadway performance.

Phillips built an extensive career as a choreographer of major West End and Broadway productions. She received a Tony Award nomination for Best Choreography in 1987, the year she choreographed Starlight Express. Her subsequent stage credits include Grease in 1993 and again in 2022, Saturday Night Fever in 1998, and Guys and Dolls in 2023. Beyond the stage, she served as choreographer for the 1982 film Annie and created the promotional video for Duran Duran's The Wild Boys, which won Best British Video at the 1985 BRIT Awards. In the summer of 1996, she was stage director for the opening run of Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance at Dublin's Point Theatre. In 2002, she choreographed the opening and closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games alongside David Zolkwer.

On television, Phillips served as a judge on the BBC One series Strictly Come Dancing from 2004 to 2008, as a member of the inaugural panel alongside Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood, and Bruno Tonioli. In 2005 and 2006 she judged the BBC spin-off Strictly Dance Fever, and in 2007 she created and judged DanceX, in which she mentored one of two competing dance troupes, with the other mentored by Tonioli. When the BBC announced changes to Strictly Come Dancing ahead of the 2009 series, Phillips was replaced on the judging panel by Alesha Dixon. The decision prompted widespread criticism regarding age discrimination, and the then Minister for Women and Equality, Harriet Harman, raised the matter in the House of Commons, calling on the BBC to reinstate Phillips. The BBC denied that age was a factor in the decision.

In 2008, Phillips created, produced, and choreographed the ITV television serial Britannia High, a fictional drama about students at a London performing arts school, based on an idea she developed with producer David Ian, with music written by Gary Barlow. She also choreographed the United Kingdom's entry in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest following her appearance on Eurovision: Your Country Needs You, and later choreographed Engelbert Humperdinck's performance of the UK entry at the 2012 contest in Baku. From 2010 to 2011, she served as a judge on the UK version of So You Think You Can Dance alongside Nigel Lythgoe, Louise Redknapp, and Sisco Gomez.

In July 2017, Phillips organized the Gala for Grenfell, a dance event held on 30 July at the Adelphi Theatre in London to raise funds for those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. Performers included dancers from Strictly Come Dancing, The Royal Ballet, and Matthew Bourne's New Adventures company, with proceeds directed to the Kensington and Chelsea Foundation's Grenfell Tower Fund. Also in 2017, she embarked on a spoken word tour in conversation with Jacquie Storey and appeared as a presenter on the BBC One series Holding Back the Years. In November 2021, at the age of 78, Phillips became the oldest contestant to appear on ITV's I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, surpassing the previous record held by Stanley Johnson, who had participated at age 77. She was the first celebrity eliminated from the series. On 20 February 2022, she appeared as a guest judge on ITV's Dancing on Ice during Musicals week. In October 2024, Phillips joined Toys the Musical as executive co-producer. Phillips was appointed Dame in recognition of her contributions to the arts.