Gilles Marini
Born	(1976-01-26) January 26, 1976 (age 36) Grasse, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
Occupation	Actor
Spouse	Carole (1998-present) (2 children)

Gilles Marini (born January 26, 1976) is a French actor. He is known for having appeared in Sex and the City: The Movie and in the American TV show Brothers & Sisters as Luc Laurent.

Life and career[link]

Marini was born in Grasse, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France to a Greek mother and Italian father.^[1] After working as a baker in his father's bakery since he was eight years old and graduating from high school, Gilles joined the French army and was stationed in Paris, where he acted as a fireman for the famous Brigade des Sapeurs Pompiers de Paris. It was in Paris where Marini met Fred Goudon, a photographer who introduced him to the world of modeling. After fulfilling his military duties, he went to the United States to learn English while working as a model. He began his career as a model in his early twenties. One of his first jobs was a television commercial for Bud Light beer. He made his acting debut at the age of 29, in the 2005 horror flick Screech of the Decapitated.

He played Dante in Sex and the City: The Movie in which he did a full frontal nude scene. He has been seen on Brothers & Sisters, Ugly Betty, Dirty Sexy Money, Criminal Minds, Nip/Tuck, The Bold and the Beautiful and Passions. His recent film credits include One and the Other (L'Une et L'Autre) and The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down. On February 8, 2009, it was announced that Marini would participate in the eighth season of Dancing with the Stars. His professional partner was Dancing with the Stars' Cheryl Burke.^[2]

He was introduced as a recurring character on ABC's hit family drama Brothers & Sisters. He played Luc Laurent, the French love interest of Rachel Griffiths' character Sarah Walker in what was originally was supposed to be a five episode arc,^[3] but was promoted to a series regular.^[4] The series was cancelled in May 2011 after the fifth season ended. He also appeares as Bay Kennish's biological father, Angelo Sorrento, in Switched at Birth.

[edit] Dancing with the Stars performances

On May 19, 2009, Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson & her partner Mark Ballas won the competition, beating Gilles & Cheryl by less than 1%.

Gilles and his partner Cheryl Burke came in 2nd Place of the American TV dance competition Dancing with the Stars.

Season 8: Celebrity Partner Gilles Marini Average: 28.1 Placed: 2nd:

Family[link]

He married his wife, Carole, in 1998. They have two children together.^[5][6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Gilles Marini at the Internet Movie Database
• Official website

Cheryl Burke
Born	(1984-05-03) May 3, 1984 (age 28) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation	Dancer
Years active	1988–present
Height	5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)

Cheryl Stephanie Bautista Burke (born May 3, 1984) is a professional dancer. She is best known for being one of the professional dancers on ABC's Dancing with the Stars, where she was the first female professional to win the show and the first professional to win twice and consecutively.

Early life[link]

Burke grew up in Atherton, California. Her father is of Irish and Russian descent and her mother is Filipina.^[1] Her family dances for recreation and has a dance floor at home. At age four, she began taking ballet lessons and performing locally. She then began ballroom dancing and decided to change her focus. She trained in both standard ballroom and Latin dances. She began competing at age 13. Cheryl attended Menlo-Atherton High School, graduated in 2002. In fall of 2007 Cheryl was awarded the key to the city from the mayor of Atherton at her old high school.

[edit] Dancing with the Stars

Burke won her first championship with 98 Degrees member Drew Lachey in the second season. She won her second championship with retired football star Emmitt Smith in the third season. Cheryl returned to the ballroom on March 19, 2007 for Season 4, partnered with actor Ian Ziering. She and Ziering were eliminated in the semi-finals on May 15, 2007.

Burke in 2008

Cheryl Burke participated in a 38-city Dancing with the Stars tour from December 19, 2006 to February 11, 2007. She also joined the second summer tour, which visited 24 cities between June 20, 2007 in Austin, Texas and July 24, 2007 in Vancouver, Canada. Her celebrity partner for both tours was Drew Lachey. Burke competed on Season 5. Her partner was Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton. They were the third couple eliminated from the competition on October 9, 2007.^[2]

Burke participated with both Lachey & Newton in the Dancing with the Stars winter tour that kicked off December 18, 2007 in Seattle, Washington. The tour wrapped in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 10, 2008.^[3] Cheryl competed on Season 6 and was partnered with actor Cristián de la Fuente. They trained at Palm Beach, Florida's "Paramount Ballroom," which is owned by former U.S. Nine-Dance Champion Alec Lazo.^[4] They made it to the finals and on May 20, 2008, Cheryl and Cristián placed 3rd in the Season 6 competition.

The dancer returned to the show for Season 7 with partner Maurice Greene. They were eliminated in Week 8 on November 11, 2008 and came in 5th place. She returned to the show's eighth season, in which she was paired with actor Gilles Marini. They were the runners-up for the season, losing to Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas. On August 17, 2009, it was announced that Burke would compete on the ninth season of Dancing with the Stars with partner Tom DeLay (former U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader). On October 6, 2009, Cheryl and DeLay withdrew from the competition because DeLay had stress fractures in both feet.^[5]

In season ten she was partnered with Chad Ochocinco. They were eliminated in the semi-finals and came in fourth place. Rick Fox was partnered with Burke in the show's eleventh season. They were voted off in the seventh week of the competition and came in 6th place. For the twelfth Season, she was partnered with wrestler Chris Jericho. They were voted off in the sixth week of the competition. In the thirteenth season, Cheryl Burke was partnered with reality star Rob Kardashian. They came in second place, losing to J.R. Martinez & Karina Smirnoff. In the fourteenth season, Cheryl Burke was partnered with actor William Levy.

Since her start in the second season of the show, Burke has achieved 15 perfect scores. Additional feats include making it into the final stage of the show six times and her eight appearances in the show's semi-final stage.