About Kevin

• Kevin is from Waltham, Lincolnshire, which is not far from Grimsby – hence the ‘Kevin from Grimsby’ tag!
• His date of birth is 13 October 1982.
• He is 5ft 8in tall.
• His middle name is James.
• His parents Keith and Judy are former World Champion dancers, who run their own dance school Cliftons Dance Academy.
• He originally competed in both ballroom and Latin as a youngster, and was partnered with his sister, Joanne.
• When they got older, they felt it was time to find new dance partners, but didn’t want to end up competing against each other, so Kevin specialised in Latin, whilst Joanne stuck with ballroom – she is now a world champion herself.
• Kevin was a Youth World Number 1 and four-times British Latin champion, as well as winning a number of international open titles – not so much the ‘black sheep of the family’ he joked about being then!
• In 2010, he made his musical theatre debut in ‘Dirty Dancing’ in the West End.
• On and off from 2008 to 2014, Kevin was a principal dancer in ‘Burn The Floor’ – this is where he met Karen. It was during a performance of the show in 2013 (on her birthday, 20 April) when he proposed live on stage – aww!
• He was previously married to fellow professional dancer Clare Craze.
• In 2012, Karen and Kevin both auditioned to be new pro dancers on Strictly – but in the end, there was only a space for a female pro and so Karen joined the show. However, Kevin was still involved in the show as an assistant choreographer, in the group routines and in the training room with Karen and her celeb Nicky Byrne.
• Kevin got his chance to shine in the Strictly ballroom in 2013 when he was confirmed to be joining his beautiful fiancée Karen as a professional dancer. He was partnered with the lovely Susanna Reid and they reached the final, finishing as joint runners-up (Abbey and Aljaž
  won the glitterball).
• Susanna and Kevin also took part in the Strictly live tour,  where they won a number of shows – finishing as tour runners-up to Natalie and Artem.
• In 2014, Joanne joined Kevin on the show as a professional dancer – she has already said she is determined to beat him, so be prepared for some Strictly sibling rivalry!
• in 2014, Kevin was paired with the gorgeous Frankie Bridge from the Saturdays, with whom he reached the final for the second consecutive year, also becoming the only current pro to completely avoid the dance-off – some record! Karen also reached the final for the first time (with Mark Wright).
• Kevin hit the road again with the Strictly live tour in 2015 – originally he was due to dance with Frankie, but she had to withdraw at the last minute due to her pregnancy,  and so she was replaced by S Club 7 star and former SCD contestant Rachel Stevens.
• In 2015, Kevin returned for series 13 of Strictly, where he has been partnered with the actress Kellie Bright, currently most well-known for her role as Linda Carter in EastEnders. They reached the final (Kevin’s third successive shot at the glitterball), but alas, they missed out to Jay and Aliona. However, they did top the leaderboard, which is nothing to be scoffed at even if the judges’ scores don’t count in the final. They received a whopping 119/120 for their three dances, including Kevin’s first ever 40 scores for their tango and showdance.
• Kevin returned for a fourth consecutive series of Strictly in 2016, joined once again by Karen, and also Jo, who is returning to competing after a year without a celeb partner. This time, he was teamed up with the singer and presenter, Louise Redknapp. It was another pretty successful series, as he reached the final for a fourth time!
• He missed out on his fourth shot at the title to his sister and her celeb partner, Ore Oduba! This was technically Jo’s second glitterball, as she won the Christmas Special with Harry Judd in 2015. Karen has one, as she won the Children In Need special in 2016. Poor Kev to date has none – we’re sure it’ll happen one day!
• However, he and Louise did win the joint highest number of tour dates in 2017, along with Danny and Oti, which is some consolation!
• For series 15 of Strictly, Kevin is partnered with comedian and presenter Susan Calman. Susan was delighted to be paired with him and got rather emotional on the launch show, as he is her favourite (she even had a picture of him on her fridge before taking part in the show!). At the time of writing, they are still in the competition, and are clearly having a ball together. Go Team 10CC!
• When not on the road, Kevin shares a home in London with Karen.
• On the 11th July 2015, Karen officially became Mrs Clifton as she and Kevin married in London – aww!
• Kevin and Karen took part in the show, All Star Mr & Mrs, in 2016. They proved just how compatible they are by scoring 8/9 for their first 2 rounds, making them the winners. This meant they progressed to the final round where they achieved the full 4 out of 4 matches, winning the maximum jackpot of £30000 for the charity they are ambassadors for, Starlight Children’s Foundation. Well done K & K!
• In 2017, the couple embarked on their debut headline nationwide tour, Kevin & Karen Dance, which proved to be a roaring success. So much so, that they will be dancing their way around the country again in 2018!

Random Kevin facts:

• He’s a complete football nut and supports both Scunthorpe United and Chelsea.
• He also enjoys watching wrestling.
• His favourite film of all time is Strictly Ballroom (he has good taste!)
• He was almost called Osgood instead of Kevin, after the footballer Peter Osgood – but his mum was having none of it!
• He has a tiny tattoo of a heart on the back of his left hand.
• He possibly has the most nicknames ever for a Strictly pro – Kev (obvious one!); Kevo (ditto!); Kevi (Karen’s nickname for him, and we also use it); GoForItKev (given to him by James Jordan and Brendan Cole due to his enthusiasm for everything!); and Kevin From Grimsby/KFG (no need for an explanation here!) being just a few of them!
• He is the 2013 It Takes Two Pro Challenge champion and holder of the Guinness World Record for most number of ‘drunken sailors’ in 30 seconds (he did 77, fact fans!)
• Kevin has great comedic timing, and proved himself to be a rather fine actor with his ‘Oscar-winning’ plea for votes for himself and Susanna on the Strictly live tour!
• He cites a number of entertainers as his inspirations – one of the most prominent being Robbie Williams, whom he calls his idol and was thrilled to meet when he performed on one of the Strictly results shows!