Dancer David is enjoying LA life

David Ratcliffe has performed in music videos, adverts, television shows and awards ceremonies.

He toured Europe with Kylie Minogue and danced for the royal family in the Royal Variety Performance.

His home in Los Angeles is a long way from where he started in Adlington, near Chorley.

The former Albany High School pupil danced at Gillies Mar-Jan Stage School in Chorley and Adlington, before continuing his dance training at Preston’s College.

David moved to London in 2009 and spent several years dancing on The X Factor.

He worked on the Brit Awards and music videos with The XX and Will Young.

David moved to Los Angeles in 2013, where he has worked on The Voice US, The Ellen Degeneres Show, the MTV VMA’s 2015 and more.

He said: “It’s been interesting, to say the least, living in LA. Celebrities are definitely a regular sighting, whether it be sitting in a restaurant and seeing Lady Gaga eating at the other side of the room, even being in an audition with Madonna or JLo stood watching - because I’ve experienced all these scenarios!

“I think one of my most surreal experiences with meeting celebrities would have to be with one of my close friends, stylist Johnny Wujek, who I lived with for a while. He invited me to join him for the day up at Katy Perry’s home as they are best friends and she was throwing a Memorial Day party. Needless to say we had an amazing time and of course Katy was so much fun. Some of the guests included Sia, Anna Faris, John Mayer and Robert Pattison.”

David has also moved into acting and says his biggest achievements were the leading roles in two music videos - Christina Perri’s Burning Gold and Exs And Ohs by Elle King.

“It has been one of the most incredible experiences, packing my bags and relocating to a new country,” he said.

“It has opened my eyes to many new things in life, it has taught me to become a lot more open minded and a better judge of character. I’m a lot tougher mentally than I used to be growing up, it’s something you certainly need in the entertainment industry, to be able to look out for yourself.

“But I’m happy, I’m also very lucky to be able to do something I love for a living and successfully at that. If there is one thing I have learned over the course of my career, it’s that anything really is achievable if you put your mind to it.”