Louis Van Amstel

In November 2019, Van Amstel made headlines after he revealed that a substitute teacher shamed his son for having two gay dads and forced his class to endure a 10-minute anti-gay lecture. The school promptly fired the teacher.

Van Amstel is openly gay. However, he does not explicitly use the word "gay" because he does not want to be stigmatized. On January 8, 2017, Van Amstel married his long-time boyfriend Joshua Lancaster in Sundance, Utah. They adopted their son, Daniel van Amstel in December 2019.

On September 2, 2015, he was announced as a pro for season 21 after a 5-season hiatus. He was paired with celebrity chef, Paula Deen. They were eliminated on week 6 of competition and finished in 9th place.

In fall 2014, Van Amstel was seen as a judge on the Dutch show Celebrity Pole Dancing, a show where Dutch celebrities are taught how to pole dance and perform.

Van Amstel runs a dance fitness program, LaBlast. LaBlast DVDs were released in early 2012. During the summer of that year, Van Amstel started a fitness clothing line, branded LVA.

For season eleven of Dancing With The Stars, Van Amstel was partnered with actress and comedian Margaret Cho. The couple made it to the third week, but were eliminated, resulting in a tenth-place finish. Van Amstel appeared in Cho's comedy music album Cho Dependent as her therapist. In July 2011, he appeared alongside Cho as himself in the fourth episode of the third season of Drop Dead Diva.

Van Amstel was cast for season one of Dancing with the Stars in early 2005. He was partnered with Trista Sutter, but they were the first to be eliminated from the competition. In the show's second season, he was partnered with hostess Lisa Rinna, with whom he reached fourth place.

In 1997, Van Amstel retired from competitive ballroom dancing, moved to New York City, and became an American citizen in July 1999. He returned to competitive dancing with partner Karina Smirnoff; they won the United States national championship in 2000.

In 1991 Van Amstel and Fryer won the national championships for the second time, and got fourth place in all major championships. A year later, Van Amstel decided that he wanted to retire from competing for a while, and came to the point where he finished his partnership with Fryer for the first time. Three years later, in 1994, the partnership was re-established, and Van Amstel and Fryer went on to win three world Latin Dance championship gold medals in 1994, 1995 and 1996.

Van Amstel competed professionally with Julie Fryer, and they were coached by Ruud Vermeij. In 1990, Van Amstel and Fryer became Dutch Latin Champions and 10 Dance Champions. They also made the final in Blackpool in the 'under 21' category. The very same year, they received a bronze medal at the German Open, at the World Latin and at the European 10 Dance. In the Worlds 10 Dance Championship, Van Amstel and Fryer got fourth place.

Louis van Amstel (born June 23, 1972) is a Dutch-American ballroom dance champion, professional dancer, and choreographer who appears on the U.S. reality television series Dancing with the Stars. He is the creator of the popular dance fitness program LaBlast children.