Rana Roy

Rana Roy (born 1 October 1986) is an English singer, dancer and actress of Egyptian, Indian, Nubian and Spanish descent.

Bio

Roy grew up with her father in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, traveling regularly to the U.S. to stay with her mother. Aged 9, she enrolled in dance classes as an extra-curricular activity. She trained with teacher Sharmila Kamte and was performing professionally by the age of 13.

At 16, she moved to London to attend a performing arts college, the London Studio Centre. After graduating from the 3-year course she worked as a backing dancer for various artists including James Morrison, Melanie C from the Spice Girls and Corinne Bailey Rae. She appeared in videos for Calvin Harris' "The Girls" and Mel C's "I Want Candy"

Roy was a competitor on the BBC show Dance X with Arlene Phillips and Bruno Tonioli as judges. Her team went on to win the show, releasing a single and touring with Rihanna and Ciara around the U.K. They also released a workout video, Dance Xtreme.

Soon after finishing the tour Roy landed a lead role as Lola for a new ITV1 show Britannia High, a 9-episode drama series about six students in a performing arts college which included music videos in each episode. Fellow DanceX winner Marcquelle Ward also appeared in the show. The soundtrack album was released by Universal Records and Roy worked with songwriters including Gary Barlow, Guy Chambers and Elliot Kennedy. The directors she worked with on the show were Brian Grant, Declan O’Dwyer and Minkie Spiro. The show involved eight merchandise and licensing deals and was bought by more than 20 television networks worldwide including MBC (Middle East), HBO (Latin America), Seven Network and Nickelodeon (Australia).

Roy also played a student in the US series Switched at Birth.

References

Official Website IMDb profile for Rana Roy
BBC DanceX profile for Rana Roy