Carrie Ann Inaba is a dancer, choreographer, philanthropist and Emmy®
Award-nominated talk show host who is also recognized for her
33-season run as a judge on ABC’s Emmy Award-winning “Dancing with
the Stars.”

As a child, Inaba explored dance forms including jazz, ballet and the
Hawaiian dance form of hula as well as competed in gymnastics. She
played the piano and violin and sang in the choir. At age 18, she was
scouted to go to Japan to embark on a recording career and released
three singles in Japan hitting the Billboard Top 100 with her first
single produced by Kenny Loggins Project. Ultimately, it was her love
of dancing that brought her back to the U.S. to study choreography at
UC Irvine.

Inaba was at the forefront of bringing hip-hop to mainstream
television as one of the original Fly Girls on the series “In Living
Color” (1990). The Emmy Award-winning show was one of the first
inclusive comedy series produced by Keenan Ivory Wayans; Inaba
performed as the only Asian female dancer for three seasons. At the
same time, she was running her dance company, Persona Productions,
with Brazilian choreographer Alexandre Magno. She also has brought her
talent to the big screen where she co-starred as Fook Yu in New Line
Cinema’s “Austin Powers in Goldmember” and earlier as Felicity
Dancer in “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.” She was also
featured in “American Virgin” and “Monster Mash,” as well as
“Boys and Girls,” “Flintstones II,” “Showgirls” and
“Lord of Illusions.”

Inaba’s love of dance brought her to work as one of the first
on-camera choreographers as the wave of reality shows began to take TV
by storm. She choreographed and staged numerous hit shows including
“American Idol,” “America Juniors,” “Dance Fever,” “TV
Land Awards” and “Kids Choice Awards.” She worked as a
choreographer on Season 1 of “So You Think You Can Dance” but
forged further seasons to join ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” as
the only female and American judge on the show for most of its
33-season run. Concurrently she went back to school and received her
bachelor’s degree in World Arts and Cultures, which includes the
study of movement, philosophy and cultural anthropology.

In 2008, Inaba and fellow “DWTS” judge Bruno Tonioli had their own
competition show on ABC titled “Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann,”
which debuted to 17 million viewers. The show was a fun compliment to
“DWTS” and showcased both in a different role. She was also host
of Game Show Network’s “1 VS. 100” and TV Guide’s “Red
Carpet Live”; pioneered TV Guide’s “Fashion Wrap with Carrie
Ann”; served as a returning guest host for “Live with Kelly and
Ryan” and “The View”; guest starred as Hannah Montana’s
choreographer, Tina; and was host and presenter of the American Music
Awards’ “Red Carpet Exclusive.” Inaba most recently served as
co-host and moderator on the Emmy Award-winning daytime talk show
“The Talk,” where she was also nominated for an Emmy Award for her
work as co-host.

Inaba has been on the board of directors of CAPE and was inducted into
the Asian Hall of Fame in 2015 for her work as a trailblazing AAPI
member. She served as the national spokesperson for Dréa’s Dream, a
national program that raises funds for dance therapy for pediatric
cancer patients. She also advocates for people who have autoimmune
disease and helps spread valuable features, interviews and articles
about wellness and living with joy to the community via The Carrie Ann
Conversations online community and Carrie Ann Conversations, her
digital interview series. Both are destinations where she shares her
insight to help others to live a healthy and happier life.

Inaba’s diverse career and versatility as a performer gives her a
unique ability to help all the competitors on “DWTS” shine in
their best light, and she loves watching people find their love for
dance as well as finding the true beauty of dance and incorporating it
into their lives.

PERSONAL INFORMATION
HOMETOWN: Honolulu, Hawaii
BIRTHDATE: January 5
