Vincent Simone (born 15 March 1979) is an Italian professional dancer, who appeared on ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...

'' from 2006 until 2012. He moved to

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

when he was 17. Simone and his professional partner

Flavia Cacace Flavia Cacace-Mistry (born 1980) is an Italian British professional dancer. Her professional dance partner is Vincent Simone (they are branded when performing together as 'Vincent and Flavia'), and between 2006-2012 both partners appeared on t ...

, perform under the brand name ''Vincent and Flavia''.

Early life

Simone was born into a family of dancers; his parents are professional

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and ballroom dancers.

Personal life

Simone's partner is Susan Duddy, a former flight attendant. They have two children, born in 2009 and 2013. On 18 July 2015, Simone and Duddy wed at Castle Leslie in County Monaghan, Ireland. The wedding was initially misreported by Hello! Magazine, as occurring in Derry, Northern Ireland.

''Strictly Come Dancing''

Highest and lowest scoring performances per dance Simone has appeared on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's ''

'' since the fourth series, where he danced with

Louisa Lytton Louisa Claire Lytton (born 7 February 1989) is an English actress, best known for portraying the role of Ruby Allen in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' and Beth Green in the ITV police procedural series ''The Bill'' (2007–2009). She also ...

as his celebrity partner. They were knocked out in week 10, scoring 31 out of 40 for their first dance and 28 for the second. This gave them a total of 59 points, which left them in last place. Simone returned for the fifth series in 2007, partnering with actress

Stephanie Beacham Stephanie Beacham (born 28 February 1947) is an English actress. In a career spanning six decades, she has a wide number of credits to her name on film, television, stage and radio in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Beacham beg ...

, but the pair were eliminated in the second week, losing to

Letitia Dean Letitia Jane Dean (born 14 November 1967) is an English actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Sharon Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. An original cast member from 1985 to 1995, she reprised the role from 2001 to 2006, and ag ...

and Darren Bennett in the dance off. One judge,

Arlene Phillips Dame Arlene Phillips (born 22 May 1943) is an English choreographer, theatre director, talent scout, former television judge, presenter, and dancer. She reached mainstream fame on television as a judge on ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (2004-2008) a ...

, voted to save Beacham and Simone, but was outvoted by the other three judges. After their success in the Strictly Live Tour! 2008, Simone and Lytton were chosen to take part in the Eurovision Dance Contest 2008 in September 2008. Dancing to '"Paint it Black" by Lee Mead, they were ranked ninth out of fourteen couples by a professional jury, and finished ninth overall when the results of the public vote had been added. In the sixth series of ''

'', Simone partnered singer

Rachel Stevens Rachel Lauren Stevens (born 9 April 1978) is an English singer and actress. She has been a member of the pop group S Club, which was active from 1998 to 2003, and has reformed once again since 2023. She released her solo debut studio album ''F ...

. On 22 November, they received the series' 1st perfect 40 for their

Foxtrot The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a time ...

. Despite having the series' highest average, they became the runners-up in the final, behind Tom Chambers and

Camilla Dallerup Camilla Sacre-Dallerup (born 6 April 1974) is a Danish author, life coach, hypnotherapist and former ballroom dancer. Dance career Dallerup was born in Aalborg, where she started dancing at the age of two and a half when her mother took her t ...

. Simone was partnered with actress

Natalie Cassidy Natalie Ann Cassidy (born 13 May 1983) is an English actress and television personality. She is known for her role as Sonia Fowler in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders.'' She has also appeared in the BBC Two sitcom-horror series '' Psychoville ...

in the seventh series of the show. The couple were voted off on 28 November 2009, coming in fifth place. In the eighth series in 2010, he partnered

Felicity Kendal Felicity Ann Kendal (born 25 September 1946) is an English actress, working principally in television and theatre. She has appeared in numerous stage and screen roles over a more than 70-year career, including as Barbara Good in the television ...

; they were voted off on 14 November, finishing in 8th place. In September 2011, Simone returned as one of the male professional dancers in the ninth season. On the launch night of SCD, which was broadcast on 10 September, Simone was revealed to be the professional dance partner to former MP, author and broadcaster,

Edwina Currie Edwina Currie (; born 13 October 1946) is a British writer, broadcaster and former politician, serving as Conservative Party Member of Parliament for South Derbyshire from 1983 until 1997. She was a Junior Health Minister for two years, res ...

. However, the couple were eliminated first on 9 October 2011, and came in last place. In 2012, Simone partnered ''

Tracy Beaker Tracy Beaker is a fictional character and the lead role of the ''Tracy Beaker'' franchise. After first appearing as the main character in Jacqueline Wilson's 1991 book '' The Story of Tracy Beaker'', she appeared in the children's television ...

'' actress,

Dani Harmer Danielle Jane Harmer (born 8 February 1989) is an English actress, television personality, and former singer. She is best known for her lead role as Tracy Beaker in the CBBC series ''The Story of Tracy Beaker'' (2002–2006), '' Tracy Beaker ...

. They reached the final and came fourth. Cacace won the series with her partner Louis Smith. On 1 June 2013, Cacace announced that she and Simone would not be competing in ''Strictly Come Dancing'' that year so they could work on other shows.

Louisa Lytton

Stephanie Beacham

Rachel Stevens

Natalie Cassidy

Felicity Kendal

Edwina Currie

Dani Harmer

''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''

Simone competed in the thirteenth series of ITV's thirteenth series in 2013. He joined 'camp' on Day 5 with

Annabel Giles Annabel Claire Giles (20 May 1959 – 20 November 2023) was a British television and radio presenter. She also worked as a qualified counsellor, psychotherapist, model, actress, writer and novelist. Early life Giles was born on 20 May 1959 in ...

and finished in tenth place, being the third celebrity to leave in a double elimination on Day 17, 3 December 2013.

Titles

Career titles he and his partner

have earned from competitions: * UK Professional Ten Dance Champions 2002–2006 * UK Professional Showdance Champions 2003–2006
Negracha club
UK Argentine Tango Champions, 2006
IDO
World Argentine Tango Finalists, 2005/2006 (3rd place overall – winners, Show Tango section) * UK Ballroom Champions * World and European Ten Dance and Showdance finalists 2002–2006

References

External links

Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace's official website

Strictly Come Dancing homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simone, Vincent Living people English people of Italian descent 1979 births