Emma Slater

Emma Louise Slater is a British and American professional dancer and choreographer best known for her appearances on the reality competition program Dancing with the Stars.

Early life

Emma Louise Slater was born on Christmas Day 1988 in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England. She has a twin sister, Kelly, who is a costume designer and stylist. Slater was raised in Tamworth, Staffordshire, and began taking dance classes at an early age. At age 10, Slater started her training in ballroom and Latin dance. In the early years of competing, she won a number competitions in England.
At 15, she appeared in a George Michael music video "Round Here" produced by Bikini Films on location in London. Later that year, Slater took part in the fitness video "Latinasize" again filmed at the Pinewood Studios in London.

Personal life

She dated fellow Dancing with the Stars member Sasha Farber from 2011 to 2014. In December 2015, Farber made a post on his Instagram account confirming that he and Slater were back together. He proposed to Slater during a broadcast of Dancing with the Stars on 4 October 2016. They married on 25 March 2018, with fellow Dancing with the Stars pros Lindsay Arnold, Witney Carson and Jenna Johnson serving as bridesmaids, and Derek Hough serving as one of Farber's groomsmen. Slater became an American citizen in December 2020. The couple separated in April 2022. Slater filed for divorce in February 2023. She is now in a relationship with fellow Dancing with the Stars pro Alan Bersten.

Competitive dancing

Slater has numerous titles to her name. In 2005, at the age of 16, she won the British Under 21 Latin American Championships at the Blackpool Closed 2005. She won the 2006 United Kingdom Under 21 Latin American Championships at the Bournemouth Pavilions, England. Ranked in the world's top 10, Slater went on to represent the UK in competitions around the world.

Theatre

At 16, Slater joined the hit theatre show ‘Simply Ballroom’ touring UK, including Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London's West End, United Arab Emirates and South Africa. While in South Africa, Slater appeared on Dancing with the South African Stars with her celebrity partner TV Host Dalen Lance. Following Simply Ballroom, Slater had an extended run in London's West End with theatre shows; Dirty Dancing at the Aldwych Theatre where she was the Principal Latin Dancer/Ballroom Supervisor, but also understudied and played the principal role of Lisa Houseman, ‘Cheek to Cheek’ at The Coliseum and ‘Latin Fever’ at the Peacock Theatre.

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Simply Ballroom	Principal Dancer	UK & World Tour
2005	George Michael Music Video	Feature Dancer	Round Here
2006	Cuban Groove	Dance Captain	Europe Tour
2007	Dirty Dancing	Principal Dancer Ballroom Supervisor	Aldwych Theatre
2008	Cheek to Cheek	Lead Latin/Ballroom Dancer	DuBeke/Boag Coliseum Theatre
2008	Latin Fever	Principal Dancer	Bennett/Kopylova Peacock Theatre
2009–2011		Lead Dancer	London's West End, Broadway and World Tour

In 2009, Slater joined the stage show for the China tour initially, but later joined the cast for an extended run at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway New York City and a world tour covering: Belgium, Holland, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Canada, New Zealand, West End London, a nine-month USA multi-city tour. She also danced and advised on UK's ITV Popstar to Opera Star on a number of occasions.

''Mamma Mia!''

In 2008, Slater was featured in the Universal Pictures movie Mamma Mia! starring Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth, directed by Phyllida Lloyd – this included singing on the Grammy nominated soundtrack for the movie with the cast, produced by ABBA. The movie was shot in part on the Greek island of Skopelos but primarily inside Pinewood Studios London.

''Dancing with the Stars''

In March 2012, Slater joined the fourteenth season on the American edition of Dancing with the Stars as a troupe dancer, where she danced and choreographed all of the opening dance numbers including the finale.
Later that year, she choreographed Usher at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas including partner work with co-choreographer and also troupe member, Sasha Farber.
After three seasons of being a troupe member, she was announced as one of the new female professional dancers for the seventeenth season of the show in September 2013. Her celebrity partner was award-winning comedian, singer and actor, Bill Engvall. Despite receiving low scores from the judges for most of the season, they were able to reach the finals but were eliminated at the end of the first night, landing them in 4th place. For season 18, she returned as a professional dancer partnered with movie actor Billy Dee Williams. Due to a back injury on Billy Dee, they withdrew from the competition on Week 3. For season 19, she was paired with race-car driver Michael Waltrip and they finished in 7th place. For season 20, she paired with LMFAO singer Redfoo but on week 2, they were the first couple eliminated. For season 21 she paired with Vine star Hayes Grier. They were eliminated on Week 7 and finished in 8th place. Slater did not participate in Season 22 of the reality show.
Slater returned for season 23 and was paired with former Texas governor and two-time presidential candidate Rick Perry. They were eliminated on week 3 of competition and finished in 12th place. She returned for season 24 and was paired with NFL running back Rashad Jennings; Jennings and Slater won the competition on 23 May 2017, marking Slater's first win.
For season 25, Slater was partnered with realtor, and Property Brothers co-host, Drew Scott. They made the finals of the competition but were eliminated on night one, finishing in 4th place.
For season 26, Slater was paired with former MLB outfielder Johnny Damon. They were eliminated on the first week of competition, tying in 9th place with Jamie Anderson and Artem Chigvintsev.
For season 27, she was partnered with actor & country music singer John Schneider. The couple was eliminated on week 7 of competition and finished in joint 7th place with DeMarcus Ware and Lindsay Arnold.
For season 28, Slater was paired with actor James Van Der Beek. Despite earning high scores from the judges throughout the season and being considered frontrunners to win, the couple was eliminated during the semi-finals of the competition where they finished in 5th place.
For season 29, Slater was paired with former NBA player Charles Oakley. They were the first couple to be eliminated and finished in 15th place.
For season 30, Slater was paired with country singer Jimmie Allen. They finished in 7th place.
For season 31, Slater was paired with actor & model Trevor Donovan. They reached the semi-finals and finished in 6th place.
For season 33, Slater was partnered with actor Reginald VelJohnson. They reached the third week of competition and finished in 10th place in a double elimination.
For season 34, Slater is paired with actor & comedian Andy Richter.

Season	Partner	Place	Average
17	Bill Engvall	4th	22.5
18	Billy Dee Williams	10th	15
19	Michael Waltrip	7th	18.4
20	Redfoo	12th	20
21	Hayes Grier	8th	24.2
23	Rick Perry	12th	16
24	Rashad Jennings	1st	27
25	Drew Scott	4th	23.8
26	Johnny Damon	9th	18
27	John Schneider	7th	22.2
28	James Van Der Beek	5th	25.1
29	Charles Oakley	15th	13.5
30	Jimmie Allen	7th	23.2
31	Trevor Donovan	6th	23.8
32	Mauricio Umansky	9th	18.5
33	Reginald VelJohnson	10th	15.8
34	Andy Richter	7th	19.6

*Scores out of 40 are adjusted to be out of 30.

Season 17: with celebrity partner: Bill Engvall

Former professional dancer and two-time champion, Julianne Hough became Goodman's replacement as judge for that week, due to his commitments with the British version of the show, Strictly Come Dancing.
For week 8 singer Cher was the guest judge for Len.
For week 10 former pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy was a guest judge.
Season 18: with celebrity partner: Billy Dee Williams

Season 19: with celebrity partner: Michael Waltrip

¹Score given by guest judge Kevin Hart in place of Goodman.
²The American public scored the dance in place of Goodman with the averaged score being counted alongside the three other judges.
³This week only, for "Partner Switch-Up" week, Waltrip performed with Witney Carson instead of Slater. Slater performed with Tommy Chong.
⁴Score given by guest judge Jessie J in place of Goodman.
⁵Score given by guest judge Pitbull in place of Goodman.

Season 20: with celebrity partner: Redfoo

Season 21: with celebrity partner: Hayes Grier

¹ Score given by guest judge Alfonso Ribeiro.
² This week only, for "Partner Switch-Up" week, Grier performed with Allison Holker instead of Slater. Slater performed with Alek Skarlatos.
³ Score by guest judge Maksim Chmerkovskiy.
⁴ Score given by guest judge Olivia Newton-John.