Kym Johnson

One of Australia’s most well-known ballroom dancers, Kym Johnson has proved popular in the international arena as well. Her journey to one of the biggest names in the world of professional dance was helped tremendously by her recent exposure on Dancing with the Stars.

Kym Johnson was born in 1977 in her native home of Australia. Wasting no time, Johnson began dancing when she was only two years old. After thirteen years of pursuing her passion, Johnson began ballroom dancing.

By 1998, Johnson and Tomas Atkocevicius, her Lithuanian partner, had reached an impressive level of success. In this year, they took second in the Australian Dancesport Championships. Additionally, they placed as finalists in the UK Ballroom Championships.

At the age of twenty-four, when most people’s careers are just taking off, Johnson retired from her foray into competitive ballroom dancing. But little did she know her stardom was just beginning.

Retiring from the competitive end of the sport opened up Johnson’s schedule for professional endeavors such as dancing at Elton John’s fiftieth birthday bash. But her real golden opportunity came in 2004 when she landed a recurring slot on the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars. In the second season, Johnson and partner Tom Williams took the top prize. She stayed with this program until 2006.

In the same year, she had enough clout to appear on Australia’s version of Celebrity Survivor, which also featured Gabrielle Richens.

Establishing her name in the States as well, Johnson received her largest exposure to date when she was enlisted in 2006 for season three of the US Dancing with the Stars. Her professional costars included Karina Smirnoff, Louis van Amstel, Jonathan Roberts, and Julianne Hough. She was first paired with television host Jerry Springer followed by former N Sync member Joey Fatone. Her latest partner was entrepreneur and noted billionaire Mark Cuban.

Johnson capitalized on her Dancing fame to land a gig with the Disney Cruise Line where both she and Fatone performed.

Outside of the dancing arena, Johnson also gained exposure when she posed for Australia’s FHM magazine. She also made appearances on Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show as well as Good Morning America with other guest stars Don Cheadle, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, and Lisa Rinna. From 2006 to 2007, she also made fifteen appearances on Entertainment Tonight.

In her personal life, Johnson was engaged to Shane Watson for two years. The engagement was ended, however, when Johnson and former partner Williams became involved. But this relationship quickly disintegrated, after which Johnson was romantically linked to pop star Robbie Williams.