Chelsie Hightower

Chelsie Kay Hightower (born July 21, 1989) is a Latin ballroom dancer born in Las Vegas, Nevada, and raised in Orem, Utah. She started dancing when she was 9 years old and received conventional training since the age of 14. Hightower performed in musical theatres across the United States. She was a U.S. Worlds finalist in 2005 and competed on Team USA. She graduated from Timpanogos High School, then attended Utah Valley University. She was eliminated from the U.S. reality TV show So You Think You Can Dance on July 31, 2008 along with original dance partner Mark Kanemura. She joined the season 8 cast of Dancing with the Stars as a professional dancer and was partnered with Ty Murray, nine-time World Champion rodeo cowboy. On May 12, 2009, she and Murray were eliminated from the competition with a 4th place finish. Her partner for Season 9 was professional snowboarder Louie Vito. They were eliminated in the sixth week of the competition and came in 8th place. For Season 10 she was partnered with Bachelor Jake Pavelka. They were voted off in the fifth week of the competition and came in 7th place. She was paired with Michael Bolton in Season 11. The couple were eliminated in week two. She also recently made an appearance in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Winter 2010 edition (pages 152 and 153) along with three other couples from Dancing with the Stars. On July 8, 2010, Chelsie received an Emmy nomination for the "Paso Doble/Malagueña" dance that she and Derek Hough performed and co-choreographed for DWTS.