Where are Strictly golden couple Lilia Kopylova and Darren Bennett 15 years after quitting series?
They were among the first professional dancers on BBC Strictly Come Dancing when they joined the second series back in 2004, which came just five months after the inaugural one was broadcast.
Darren Bennett and Lilia Kopylova, who are partners on and off the dance floor, were both hugely successful on the hit programme, with Darren lifting the Glitterball trophy just weeks after joining the show with his celebrity partner, actress Jill Halfpenny.
The following year it was wife Lilia's turn to win along with cricketing legend Darren Gough as her Latin dance champ husband proudly shared in her triumph knowing exactly what it felt like.
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Darren's later successes included getting to the semi final with Baby Spice Emma Bunton and quarter final with EastEnders star Letitia Dean. He also won the Christmas special with Jill Halfpenny - twice.
Meanwhile, Lilia went on to win the Christmas Champion of Champions trophy, also with Darren Gough, which included a dance with a perfect score of 40 out of 40. During her first season on Strictly she made it to the semi-final with Welsh singer and presenter Aled Jones and later successes included being runner up with rugby player Matt Dawson to cricket legend Mark Ramprakash and his pro-dancer Karen Hardy.
As well as their incredible dance achievements, Darren and Lilia proved to be fan favourites thanks to their warm and friendly manner. So viewers were sad when the pair announced after the 2009 series that they were stepping away from Strictly.
For the past 15 years they have mostly been living away from the limelight and raising their two young daughters. The pair met in 1997 when Russian dancer Lilia was introduced to Sheffield-born Darren and five months later they won the International and British amateur Youth Championships. The couple turned professional in 2003, and are now regarded as one of Britain's finest Latin American dance couples.
In November 2005, Darren and Lilia, who married in 1999, won the British Championships for Professional Latin, coming first in all five dances and they have gone on to win a string of other accolades.
Since retiring from professional dancing, the pair have been immersed in the creative side of dance. They are part of the team behind the Essentially Dance, a scheme for British children to learn ballroom and Latin American dance, in a bid to tackle childhood obesity and promote social skills.
The couple starred in a West End dance show, Latin Fever, which they choreographed themselves, as well as choosing the music and costumes to reflect the mood of each Latin dance.
More recently, Lilia has been choreographer for the Irish version of Dancing with the Stars alongside Darren as the consultant creative producer.
The pair live in Sheffield with their two daughters - nine-year-old Valentina and four-year-old Lucia. They have been open to the fact that becoming parents wasn't easy for them. Just before lockdown, the couple took to Instagram to share news they were expecting their second "miracle" baby and little Lucia arrived in September 2020.
Now Lilia keeps fans updated with details of family life as well as work by sharing pictures of her growing family.
Strictly Come Dancing is on BBC One and BBC iPlayer
