Celia Merendi is a 23-year-old woman from New York City while Silvano is 48 and hails from Miami, Florida.  Celia discovered her love for ballet dancing during her childhood days.  At 14, she attended the Royal Ballet School located in London, England.  Celia had encountered a lot of challenges along the way but didn't give up on her ballerina dreams.  She was flat broke at times and even had some serious injuries but she carried on.  Celia currently juggles her time working as a cocktail waitress, a hostess and a dog walker.


Celia was raised as an independent person.  She was just a young girl when her parents broke up because her mother was mentally handicapped.  Her father also eventually came to terms with his sexuality.

Silvano Merendi is Celia's gay father.  It was Silvano and his now deceased partner who raised and took care of Celia throughout her growing up years.  He is Celia's biggest fan and Celia admires him just as much.

Celia and Silvano Merendi are one of the ten competing pairs on the Lifetime TV reality series Your Mama Don't Dance.  Dubbed as the dance competition with a twist, contestants on the show auditioned without knowing that their dancing partners would be their very own parents.  Five male contestants and five female contestants would foxtrot and mambo with their mothers and fathers as they compete to win the title and the $100,000 cash prize.

The pair was eliminated on the second episode of the show but both expressed their pleasure in having the experience and meeting good friends through the competition.  Celia believed her relationship with her dad became more solid, and saw the whole experience as something truly amazing.  Silvano said that he would treasure the experience for the rest of his life.  He was sad that they didn't win but also believed that there are still a lot of things in store for his daughter.


(Photo courtesy of Lifetime)