Iveta Lukošiūtė (born 29 June 1980) is a Lithuanian dancer and choreographer. She is best known for appearing as a professional dancer on '' Strictly Come Dancing'' between 2012 and 2014.

Early and personal life

Lukošiūtė was born in

Klaipėda Klaipėda (; ; german: Memel; pl, Kłajpeda; russian: Клайпеда; sgs, Klaipieda) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. The capital of the eponymous county, it is the third largest city and the only major seaport in Lithuania ...

, Lithuania on 29 June 1980. Lukošiūtė began learning ballroom dance at the age of 6 when she was accepted as a student at the Žuvėdra Ballroom Dance School. She danced for pop groups, concerts and festivals throughout Lithuania, and appeared in several music videos. Lukošiūtė married Jenya Raytses in August 2017 and they have two children together.

Dancing career

Lukošiūtė moved to

Woodside, New York Woodside is a residential and commercial neighborhood in the western portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is bordered on the south by Maspeth, on the north by Astoria, on the west by Sunnyside, and on the east by Elmhurst, ...

in 2003, where she went on to gain numerous dance titles including World Professional Ten Dance Champion, five time U.S. National & North American Professional Ten Dance Champion, four time U.S. National Classical Showdance Champion and two times World Classical Showdance Finalist. In 2011, Lukošiūtė appeared on the eighth season of ''

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and ha ...

''. She reached the top 20, however was eliminated on in the first week of competition.

''Strictly Come Dancing''

In September 2012, Lukošiūtė was announced to be joining the '' Strictly Come Dancing'' as a replacement for

Aliona Vilani Aliona Valeriya Kavanagh (''née'' Vilani on 1 May 1984; russian: Алёна Валерия Вилани), also known by her stage name Aliona Vilani, is a Russian-Kazakh TV personality and was a professional dancer in the BBC series of ''Stric ...

who sustained an injury, Lukošiūtė was paired with Vilani's partner, TV presenter

Johnny Ball Johnny Ball (born Graham Thalben Ball; 23 May 1938) is an English television personality, a populariser of mathematics and the father of BBC Radio 2 DJ Zoe Ball. Early life Ball was born in Bristol and attended Kingswood Primary School on th ...

, who was the oldest ever contestant to appear on the show. They were the first couple to be eliminated from the series. Lukošiūtė returned to the show for the eleventh series where she was paired with actor

Mark Benton Mark Benton (born 16 November 1965) is an English actor and television presenter known for his roles as Eddie in ''Early Doors'', Howard in '' Northern Lights'' and Martin Pond in '' Barbara''. Benton has also starred in the BBC One school-base ...

. The pair landed in the dance-off four consecutive times, a ''Strictly'' record before being eliminated in the ninth week, leaving them in 7th place. In Lukošiūtė's final series, she was paired with rugby player and model

Thom Evans Thom Evans (born 2 April 1985) is a Scottish former international rugby union player and model. He last played on the wing for Glasgow Warriors in the Celtic League. Evans's rugby career ended aged 24 on his tenth appearance for Scotland when ...

, they were eliminated in week five of the competition which was described as a shock, leaving them in 12th place. Whilst appearing on ''Strictly Come Dancing'', Lukošiūtė made guest appearances on British television chat shows such as '' Daybreak'', '' Loose Women'' and ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...

''. Highest and Lowest Scoring Per Dance (*) Excludes extra score given by guest judge.

Series 10

Lukošiūtė's first celebrity partner was television presenter

Series 11

Lukošiūtė's second celebrity partner was stage and screen actor

Series 12

Lukošiūtė's third celebrity partner was former rugby player

. (*) Score given by guest judge Donny Osmond.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lukosiute, Iveta Living people 1980 births Lithuanian female dancers Lithuanian dancers Lithuanian choreographers Lithuanian women choreographers Lithuanian expatriates in England Lithuanian expatriates in the United States