Pasha Kovalev is a Russian professional dancer, best known for his appearances in the dancing reality TV shows such as Strictly Come Dancing and So You Think You Can Dance. Born in Siberia into a financially backward family, Pasha discovered love for dancing when he was 8 years old. Growing up, he was taken to a boot camp and trained in dancing for many years. He met Anya Garnis there and they formed a pair and eventually, they also began dating. Together, they performed at various dancing competitions across Russia and moved to the USA together in 2001. There, after struggling for some time, Pasha found success when he won the audition to participate in the dancing reality show titled So You Think You Can Dance, and performed in the third season of the show. He also associated with following seasons as either a choreographer or an All-Star. He also joined the show Strictly Come Dancing in 2011 for the ninth season and has appeared in all subsequent seasons until 2018. He ended up with one first prize and finished as the first runner up in the first two seasons. He has also toured around the UK with his long time partner Anya and married Rachel Riley, his former dance partner at ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.
