Kledi Kadiu was born in
Tirana,
Albania, the son of Fisnik Kadiu, an engineer, and Lindita Kadiu, a pharmacist. He grew up in an apartment in the centre of Tirana, along with his parents, sister Ada, and grandparents Xhavit and Kimete. Kadiu attended the
National Dance Academy, where he graduated in 1992. He soon began working as a
ballet dancer in the
National Theatre of Opera and Ballet, where he became the principal dancer, performing in ballets such as
Giselle,
The Nutcracker Suite,
Don Quixote and
Daphnis et Chloé. In 1993, at the age of nineteen, he moved to
Italy. Three years later, he made his television debut as a dancer on the Canale 5 programme
Quizzone. From 1997 to 2003, Kadiu was a regular dancer on the
Buona Domenica variety show. This was followed by work on two popular programmes hosted by Maria De Filippi on Canale 5, ''
C'è posta per te and the Fame
-based talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi''. Kadiu posed for the 2003 Calendar of the men's magazine
Max. In 2004, Kadiu founded the
Kledi Dance school in Rome. The following year, he starred in his first film
Passo a Due, a semi-biographical movie directed by Andrea Barzini, where Kadiu portrays
Beni, a young Albanian who arrives in Italy seeking fame and fortune as a dancer. He starred in another cinematographic film,
La cura del gorilla, as well as a television mini-series which was broadcast by
Rai Uno in 2007. That same year, he performed in the ballet
Romeo and Juliet, which was produced by the dance company
Balletto di Roma. Kadiu has won two awards. In 2004, he received the
Premio Gino Tani Award for
Best Artist of the Year, and in 2006, he received the ''Ginestra d'Oro
Award for Best Dancer of the Year''. In January 2009, Kadiu returned to
Amici di Maria De Filippi where he is one of the regular dancers on the programme. On 27 January 2009, Kadiu's autobiography,
Meglio di una Favola (Better Than a Fairy-Tale), published by
Mondadori, went on sale in Italy. On 2 September 2022, it was announced that Kadiu would be a judge on the
eighth season of the Albanian version of
Dancing with the Stars on
Top Channel. In November 2023, he was announced as one of the hosts of
the 62nd edition of the Albanian song contest
Festivali i Këngës. == Personal life ==