3 more Utahns think they can dance

Mollee Gray has wanted to be on "So You Think You Can Dance" since the show began. Ashleigh and Ryan Di Lello wanted to keep dancing and decided almost at the last minute to audition.

And the three have joined a long list of Utahns to make the top-20 finalists on the Fox show.

All three are natives of the Beehive State and grew up dancing locally. Gray graduated from Timpanogos High before heading to Southern California to follow her dancing dream.

The Di Lellos — the first married couple to make the "So You Think You Can Dance" finals ?— also grew up in Utah County. Ryan, 28, went to Springville High; Ashleigh, 26, went to Mountain View High; they met at Center Stage Studio in Orem and both attended BYU, where they were on the ballroom dance team.

The Di Lellos returned to Utah this past summer after two years performing on cruise ships. They were looking at buying a house, getting "regular" jobs and settling down.

But they wanted to keep dancing.

"We were struggling with this whole thing," said Ryan Di Lello. "Our dancing is the best it's ever been, and we wanted to keep using that talent that God has given us."

So they latched onto the "So You Think You Can Dance" auditions in Salt Lake City back in July.

"Ashleigh actually brought it up. She said, 'Maybe we should go for that,' " Ryan Di Lello said.

"We thought, 'Well, it's coming to Salt Lake. Why not?' " Ashleigh Di Lello said.

They were hoping — but not necessarily expecting — that they'd both make it to the finals. In Ashleigh Di Lello's case, it was a bit of a close call.

She was actually No. 11 on the judges' list of women dancers, but one of the other 10 dropped out of the competition when she landed a job.

Having a married couple on "So You Think" was already "a great opportunity for drama"; making Ryan Di Lello think his wife hadn't made the finals in last week's show was "drama for TV," Ashleigh Di Lello said with a laugh.

"What was the worst about that day for me was knowing that I was through, but knowing that Ryan was thinking I wasn't."

"They totally pulled a fast one on me," said Ryan Di Lello. "I absolutely did not think that she had made it. … That was one of the hardest moments of my life."