Edyta Śliwińska


Edyta Śliwińska is a Polish-American professional ballroom dancer who is starring in the stage show Dance Temptation. She is best known for her appearances on the American version of the reality television series Dancing with the Stars, where she appeared on all of the first ten seasons of the show.
WWW edytasliwinska.com

Early life

Śliwińska was born in Warsaw, Poland, and comes from a working-class Polish background. She took her first dancing class at age 12.

''Dancing with the Stars''

In the first season of Dancing with the Stars in June 2005, Śliwińska partnered boxing champion Evander Holyfield, with whom she placed 5th in the competition.
For the second season, she was paired with actor George Hamilton, and again came in 5th place.
With the third season, her partner was actor Joey Lawrence, and the couple achieved 3rd place. Śliwińska and Lawrence were part of the first performance tour of the show from December 19, 2006, to February 11, 2007.
For season 4, she originally had Vincent Pastore as her partner, but Pastore withdrew after a week of training, as he was unable to keep up with the hard pace of preparation. On March 2, John Ratzenberger was announced to be Pastore's replacement, giving Ratzenberger the least time of any celebrity to prepare for the series at the time. On May 1, 2007, Sliwinska and Ratzenberger became the sixth couple eliminated from the competition, with a finish of 6th place.
In season 5, Śliwińska was partnered with soap opera actor Cameron Mathison. They became the eighth couple eliminated before the semi-finals, with a finish of 5th place for the third time.
In season 6, her partner was NFL player Jason Taylor. They won second place, giving Śliwińska her best finish to date.
In season 7, Śliwińska and her partner American Comedian and Roastmaster Jeffrey Ross were the first couple to be eliminated. They did not get their chance to show their Quickstep. During practice, Ross suffered an eye injury. Misty May-Treanor had suffered a leg injury in week three of the competition, and since she wanted to show America her Jive, Śliwińska danced it for her on the next night's result show. After week six, Śliwińska temporarily replaced Julianne Hough as Cody Linley's professional partner until Hough recovered from surgery scheduled on October 28, 2008.
In season 8, Śliwińska was paired with NFL player Lawrence Taylor. They were eliminated in the seventh week of the show on April 21, 2009, with the lowest judged score of 21 and came in 7th place.
For season 9, Śliwińska was paired with Ashley Hamilton, George Hamilton's son. They were eliminated first making Sliwinska the third professional to come in last more than once along with Alec Mazo, Jonathan Roberts, and Tristan MacManus.
For season 10, it was announced on March 2, 2010, that she would be partnered up with soap opera star Aiden Turner. They were eliminated in the fourth week of the competition and came in 9th place.
On March 2, 2016, it was announced that Śliwińska would return for season 22 after an eleven-season hiatus and is partnered with journalist Geraldo Rivera. The couple was the first to be eliminated on the second week of competition.
SeasonPartnerPlaceAverage
Score
1Evander Holyfield5th15
2George Hamilton5th21.7
3Joey Lawrence3rd26.5
4John Ratzenberger6th19.5
5Cameron Mathison5th24.5
6Jason Taylor2nd26.3
7Jeffrey Ross12th12
8Lawrence Taylor7th19.7
9Ashley Hamilton12th15
10Aiden Turner9th18.1
22Geraldo Rivera12th13

with [Jeffrey Ross]

Personal life

Śliwińska's husband and professional partner in dance competitions is Alec Mazo, who also participated in Dancing with the Stars, winning with Kelly Monaco in season one. They have danced together for over 6 years and have performed together multiple times for Dancing with the Stars results shows in pair numbers. They married on September 1, 2007. They have two children; she gave birth to their son, Michael Alexander Mazo, on January 4, 2014. On June 18, 2017, she gave birth to their second child, a daughter named Leia Josephine.

Professional awards

  • Emerald Ball Latin Amateur Champion
  • 1st Place - 2001 International Grand Ball
  • 1st Place - 2001 Holiday Ball

Acting career