Lilia Kopylova

Lilia Kopylova was born in Moscow, USSR on 18th June 1978. She started ballroom and Latin dancing at the age of nine after being encouraged by her grandmother. When she was older she moved to Denmark and it was here that she met Darren Bennett, her future husband and dance partner. Darren and Lilia started dancing together in 1997 and have had huge success. They have won every British dance competition they have entered. In 2004 they both took part in the hugely successful Strictly Come Dancing on BBC. Darren won Series 2 with Jill Halfpenny and Lilia won Series 3 with Darren Gough. This series Lilia partnered England Rugby star Matt Dawson and despite a terrible start they were runners up to cricketer Mark Ramprakash and Karen Hardy. Lilia is very respected in the dance world and she's known for her excellent choreography.