How Old Is Sharna Burgess? Age, Bio and Career

Sharna Burgess was born on May 21, 1985, which makes her 41 years old as of 2026, according to widely published profiles. The Australian-born dancer is best known as a professional on Dancing with the Stars in the United States.

Quick facts

Growing up in Australia

Burgess grew up in Queensland and started dancing at a young age, training in ballroom and Latin styles. She competed on the Australian dance circuit and, as a young adult, moved overseas to push her career further. Her path took her through professional dance shows and competitions, including the touring stage production Burn the Floor, before she settled in the United States.

Ballroom and Latin dance form a niche world with its own rankings, coaches and competition calendar, and success usually requires years of full-time training. Burgess has spoken about that discipline in interviews, and it explains how she arrived in America with the technical foundation that television producers look for in a professional.

The Dancing with the Stars years

She joined Dancing with the Stars as a professional in 2013 and became a fan favourite through her energy, strong technique and emotionally charged routines. She has partnered with a range of celebrities over the seasons, and her choreography has often been singled out by judges and viewers for its storytelling. She has been a recurring presence on the show, with periods away and returns, and became one of its most recognisable professionals.

What sets professionals apart on a show like this is the ability to teach. They meet a celebrity who may have no dance experience, and within a week they need to produce a routine that looks polished on live television. That mixture of coaching, choreography and showmanship is much of what the job really involves, and Burgess has built her reputation on it.

Her work has also included stage performances, choreography for television, and appearances on other dance and reality-style programmes. Away from competition, she teaches and posts dance content to a large online audience.

Life off the dance floor

Burgess has built a brand around fitness, wellness and dance, and she shares a mix of training clips and lifestyle content on social media. She has spoken publicly about balancing performing with family life, though she keeps most details of her home life selective. Her online audience tends to respond to the practical side of her content, such as warm-up routines and short choreography tutorials, as much as to the glamour of the show.

Why her age comes up

Dancers’ careers are physically demanding, so audiences often wonder how long a professional can keep performing at the top level. Burgess is a good example of someone who has stayed active well into her thirties and beyond, adapting her work to include choreography, teaching and media as well as competition. It is a pattern seen across the dance world: performers often shift gradually from the floor to the studio, applying experience as a coach or creative director.

Age is also a talking point because ballroom dance rewards maturity as well as stamina. Dancers in their thirties often bring a command of partnering, stage presence and storytelling that younger competitors are still developing. That is part of why professionals on the show can stay at the top level for a decade or more.

What fans ask

Searches for her tend to focus on three things: her age, her background in Australia and when she joined the show. The short answers are 41, Brisbane, and 2013. Fans also ask about the partners she’s danced with and whether she has returned in recent seasons. Cast lineups change from season to season, so the most reliable way to check her current status is the show’s official announcements rather than third-party summaries.

Frequently asked questions