The oldest female acrobatic salsa dancer is Sarah Paddy Jones (UK, born 1 July 1934) who won the first prize on the Spanish TV talent show "Tu Si Que Vales" in December 2009. Paddy was born in Stourbridge, England. She started dancing classical dance when she was 2 years old and at the age of fifteen began taking classes in more disciplines. However, she left dancing at the age of 22 when she married her husband, David. They moved to Gandia, Spain in 2001 when her husband retired, but David died of leukaemia just two years later.
After the death of her husband, Paddy decided to take flamenco classes at Nicolás "Nico" Espinosa's academy of dance, where she learned to dance salsa and formed the salsa dancing duo "Son del Timbal" with Nico (who is 40 years younger than her). In 2014, Paddy and Nico competed in the eighth series of Britain's Got Talent, where they finished ninth overall.
Chefs made their way into celebrity land a while ago. But how many celebrities that weren’t trained as professional cooks are actually whizzes in the kitchen? Here are several that come to mind.
Actress Julia Roberts is confident about her cooking skills. “I’m quite a good cook,” she told E! News. “I’m like a closet home ec teacher…I can really cook anything.” Roberts has said she often cooks fish for herself and her kids. And speaking of her three children, “They think that I’m a good cook,” Roberts told People. “They actually told me that I should open a restaurant.” She also relishes cooking for the holidays, particularly shredded Brussel sprouts. Roberts hasn’t published a cookbook, but we did find recipes attributed to her for peach crisp and banana hemp muffins. Or you can make the same summer salad the actress supposedly eats.
Chrissy Teigen started off as a supermodel. Then her love of cooking filtered into her professional life too. At this point, she’s created recipes for a limited Blue Apron release and also just launched her own home and cooking line at Target named “Cravings,” after the two cookbooks she’s released. Teigen describes cooking as “a time of peace” for herself. So maybe peace out to her tuna melt sandwich or the fried chicken wings that are a favorite of her husband, John Legend.
Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, comes from a cooking Italian family. Her father started his own restaurant in New York and also published a cookbook. And apparently, Lady Gaga has inherited the family’s cooking genes. Her Instagram account occasionally features photos of her culinary activities. Sure, sometimes it’s topless cooking. But other times it’s more poignant like in the post she shared about her bringing food to the family of her dear friend who passed away. Want to try a Gaga/Germanotta family favorite? Check out her recipe for whole wheat pasta with a sweet fennel sauce.