Meet the new 'Strictly' pros: Jared Murillo

The countdown is now on for the red carpet launch of Strictly Come Dancing series eight, which begins on Saturday night on BBC One. This year, it won't only be the celebrities learning the ropes and trying to impress Len and co though. Three new male pro dancers have joined the cast and if you're anything like us, you probably can't wait to see how their salsa, cha cha cha and rumbas stand up to scrutiny. This week we'll be bringing you previews of all three new pros. First up: Jared Murillo!



Jared Murillo was born in Laie, Hawaii into a large family of seven children. Jared's parents, Alex and Robin Murillo, own the Centre Stage of Performing Arts school in Utah where alongside Jared himself, many other dance stars were trained such as Julianne Hough, Ashly DelGrosso-Costa and Derek Hough. From an early age, Murillo was both singing and dancing in front of large audiences; at just 8 years old, he performed alongside Donny Osmond in a production of Joseph And His Technicolour Dreamcoat, the youngest by far amongst the cast. Three years later, aged 11, Murillo was chosen to perform in front of hundreds at the famous Suzuka Race Circuit in Japan.

Murillo has been dancing competitively since the age of 6, and in 1994 he won a national championship title in ballroom dancing. He went on to win various events and awards around the country. It was in his early teenage years that Jared was spotted by world-class dance coach and choreographer Buddy Schwimmer, who asked Murillo to partner his daughter Lacey. After accepting the offer, Murillo moved to California with the Schwimmer family and the young pair began competing together at a junior level. It was Schwimmer's coaching that helped Murillo to win multiple world and national titles in dancing such as the World Swing, the United States Swing and the United States Youth Latin Ballroom Championships.

In 2002, the Winter Olympics came to Salt Lake City in Utah and Murillo was chosen to perform, alongside his siblings Joshua and Alexandria, as part of the opening ceremonies, and it was here that he met Kenny Ortega who choreographed the performance. Murillo was later reunited with the celebrity director, most famous for his choreography of Michael Jackson's 'This Is It' tour and Dirty Dancing, when he became a principal dancer in the High School Musical film franchise which Ortega directed.

Murillo danced in all three movies, along with the 'High School Musical: The Concert' tour, and it was while working on the films that he met Ashley Tisdale, one of the leading female actresses. Murillo and Tisdale dated for a while after the movies were released, and Jared appeared in many of her music videos as a background dancer. However,their relationship ended in 2009 and Murillo has since begun dating fellow dancer Ashley Galvan, who appeared on this year's US series of So You Think You Can Dance. As well as the High School Musical movies, Murillo has appeared in many television programmes such as the Disney Channel's The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody and he also took part in 'Glee: The Tour' earlier this year.

Murillo isn't just known for his dancing, and is currently a member of boyband V Factory who have recently signed a record contract with Warner Bros Records and are produced by former pop artist Tommy Page. Although the band are yet to release an album, they have released a few singles and are said to be working on their debut album.

Having departed from his ballroom roots over the past few years, Murillo is said to be excited about joining the Strictly professional dancing team.

Additional reporting by Emma Humphrey

Are you excited about seeing Jared on the show? How do you think he will fare? leave your opinions in the box below!