Arlene Phillips is ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ Judge

Meet Arlene Phillips, one of the judges on the UK’s ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. She has recently made headlines for talking about her younger, saucier days. Arlene Phillips, the ‘Queen of Mean’ on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, apparently had a sordid past, which she revels in a recent interview. She said she used to pick up strangers, and admits that her oldest daughter is the product for a fling with a model from a Village People video. She also admits to being “friendly” with Simon Cowell back in the 80s, stating he was “really slim then.” (HA!)

The 65 year old Arlene Phillips was born in 1943 in Manchester, England. Born to strict Jewish parents, she has a brother, Ian, and a sister, Karen. She lost her mother at the age of 15 to Leukemia, and a few years later, her father died from Alzheimer’s.Arlene’s mother was always interested in dance, and it rubbed off on her. She began taking classes at the age of 3, and she originally was interested in ballet and tap. She left home in the 1970s to live in London and pursue a career in dancing. Influenced by American modern jazz, she developed her own style and began teaching it in several prominent London dance studios. She quickly became known as a successful choreographer and teacher.

Arlene Phillips became a household name as choreographer of the dance troupe Hot Gossip, which she formed in 1974 from some of her students. They preformed in London for two years until they caught the eye of British television director, David Mallet, who invited Arlene and the dancers to be a regular feature on the Kenny Everett Show. The show gave Hot Gossip the exposure they needed to make a hit disco record, ‘I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper.’These days, Arlene Phillips can be seen as a judge on ‘Strictly Come Dancing,’ the UK version of ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ She also works on the television serial ‘Britannia High.’

As for her personal life, Arlene married her first husband, Dan Noble, in 1971 when she was 28 and he was just 21. They split up seven years later, and Arlene really enjoyed the single life. She became pregnant with her daughter Alana when she was 36. She was a fathered by a model Arlene met during a video shoot for the Village People that she choreographed. To this day, Arlene has not revealed who exactly the father is.Arlene is currently married to her second husband, Angus Ion, a set builder for music videos she met 20 years ago. He is 17 years her junior. In 1990, at the age of 47, she gave birth to their daughter, Abigail.