Carrie Ann Inaba

Carrie Ann Inaba
Carrie Ann Inaba at the 2008 Kentucky Derby Festival
Born (1968-01-05) January 5, 1968 (age 56)
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
EducationPunahou School
University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation(s)Television judge, talk/game show host, dancer, choreographer, actress, singer
Years active1986–present
Height5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Partner(s)Artem Chigvintsev (2006–08)
Jesse Sloan (2009–2012)
Robb Derringer (2016–2017)

Carrie Ann Inaba (born January 5, 1968)[1] is an American television personality, dancer, choreographer, actress, and singer. She is best known for her work on ABC's Dancing with the Stars for which she has served as a judge since 2005. She co-hosted and moderated the CBS Daytime talk show The Talk from 2019 to 2021. She started her career as a singer in Japan, but became best known for her dancing, introducing herself to American audiences as one of the original Fly Girls on the Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color from 1990 to 1992.

Early life

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Inaba was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii,[2] graduating from Punahou School in 1986.[3] She is of Irish, Japanese, and Chinese descent.[4][5] Her first dance instruction was at three years old in a "creative movement" class, where children danced on their own with scarves.[6] As a child, she would dance in her backyard that overlooked the Pacific Ocean.[5]

She attended Sophia University and University of California, Irvine before graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles with a B.A. degree in world arts and cultures.[7]

Career

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Singing

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In 1986, an 18-year-old Inaba won a talent show in Hawaii.[4] She was then groomed to be a pop star in Japan and given songs to read phonetically in Japanese from a lyric sheet.[4] Even though her first single made the Top 50, she "realized it has nothing to do with how artistic you are. Your face becomes a logo they sell."[4] Inaba lived in Tokyo from 1986 to 1988 and was a popular singer.[6] She released three singles, "Party Girl" (backed with "China Blue"), "Be Your Girl" (backed with "6½ Capezio"), and "Yume no Senaka" (backed with "Searching") and hosted weekly radio and television series.[8]

Dancing

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Five multicultural girls were going for their dreams and not afraid. I felt so at home.

Inaba, to People magazine, on her experience as a Fly Girl on In Living Color[4]

After returning to America, Inaba appeared as one of the "Fly Girls"—a group of dancers on the television series In Living Color—from 1990 to 1992. She also performed with Canadian singer Norman Iceberg and dancers Viktor Manoel (David Bowie's "Glass Spider" tour) and Luca Tommassini at Prince's notorious Glam Slam. Inaba appeared as a featured solo dancer during Madonna's 1993 Girlie Show World Tour,[6] on the condition she shave her hair.[2] After hesitating, she decided it was worth it.[4] Her favorite dance is rumba since, according to American Fitness, she feels it is "very strong and demanding".[5]

Film and television appearances

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Inaba appeared as one of the background dancers in the film adaptation of Monster Mash in 1995. She appeared in the film Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) as Fook Yu, alongside Diane Mizota, who played her twin sister Fook Mi. The two women are not related, but when Mizota had been cast for her role, she was asked if she knew any actresses who resembled her and suggested Inaba. Inaba, who had appeared briefly in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, was given the role and the two women were made up to appear as identical twins. Inaba and Mizota reprised their roles with Mike Myers in a commercial for Motorola in 2005.[9] In later years, Inaba would later regret playing Fook Yu because of the negative stereotypes portrayed.

Inaba has acted (usually as a dancer) in the movies Monster Mash: The Movie, Lord of Illusions, Showgirls, Boys and Girls, Flintstones II, Freak and American Virgin and the television series Jack & Jill and Nikki.

Inaba has appeared on The View,[10] the ABC talent competition Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann,[11] and the Fox special Breaking the Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed. She, along with Bruno Tonioli, has appeared in every season on Dancing with the Stars.[12][13]

Inaba guest starred as Tina, Hannah's choreographer, in the Hannah Montana episode, "Papa's Got a Brand New Friend".[14]

TV Guide Network announced that it had signed Inaba to anchor its live red carpet coverage, beginning with the 2009 Primetime Emmy Awards.[15]

In October 2010, Inaba was named host of the revival of the game show 1 vs. 100 on GSN. After the first season, Inaba announced she would not return to host the show.[16]

Inaba had been a recurring guest co-host for the CBS Daytime talk show, The Talk, for the last two seasons. She officially replaced original host Julie Chen as the fifth co-host and moderator permanently, officially debuting on January 2, 2019.[17] On April 26, 2021, Inaba announced she would take a leave of absence from the show.[18] On August 20, 2021, it was confirmed that Inaba would not be returning to the show for the upcoming season.[19]

Choreography

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Inaba's choreography has appeared in several television series, including American Idol,[5] American Juniors, All American Girl, He's a Lady, In Search of the Partridge Family (in which she also appeared on air), Married by America, The Sexiest Bachelor in America Pageant, The Swan, and Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?.[8][20] She also choreographed the Miss America Pageant for five years. She appeared in the first season of So You Think You Can Dance during the audition stages where she provided choreography for the "choreography round".

Inaba served as an honorary judge at the 2009 USA Dance National Dance Sport Championships.[21]

Film production

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Inaba is the founder and President of EnterMediArts, Inc., a video production company. She directs, writes, and edits films. Her work includes E! Behind The Scenes Miss America Special, 7th Festival of the Pacific Arts, A Portrait of IVI and Beyond the Dancing Image, along with the short feature film Black Water.

Theater

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She was a producer for the Broadway show Burn the Floor at New York's Longacre Theatre.[22]

In 2008, Inaba was awarded the Visionary Award by East West Players, the oldest Asian Pacific American theatre company in the United States,[23] for helping to raise "the visibility of the Asian American community through theater, film and television".[24]

Personal life

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In 2006, she dated Russian dancer Artem Chigvintsev.[25] They met on the set of So You Think You Can Dance.[5]

On the March 31, 2011, episode of Live with Regis and Kelly, Regis Philbin was "answering" a letter asking for advice on how to propose. The lights dimmed just before Inaba's boyfriend, Jesse Sloan, appeared on stage. With violinists playing in the background, Sloan, bent on one knee, asked for Inaba's hand, to which she responded "Yes! I will marry you!"[26] Inaba and Jesse met on online dating site eHarmony in 2009.[27] In an interview with Us Weekly in 2011, Inaba stated that she and Sloan would marry in the summer of that year.[28] In September 2012, a representative for Dancing with the Stars announced that Inaba and Sloan had amicably ended their engagement.[29]

In December 2016, Inaba announced that she and actor Robb Derringer had become engaged after a few months of dating. Derringer proposed on a romantic, secluded beach on the California coastline, which was the site of their first date.[30] In September 2017, they called off the engagement.[31][32]

Inaba has expressed a great love and respect for animals, supporting organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States and PETA, and launching the Carrie Ann Animal Foundation in 2012.[33][34][35] In 2012, Inaba started a new YouTube series about shelter cats, motivated by her love of the creatures.[36] She has had as many as seven rescue animals as pets at the same time.[37]

Health

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In a 2011 interview with Prevention, Inaba stated she has a vision of 20/750; which is corrected with eyeglasses and contact lenses.[6][a] She won't have LASIK eye surgery, however, as her vision impairment gives her, in her words, a "soft-focus morning" until she's ready to "deal with the world".[6] She also said that she has spinal stenosis,[38][39] which she thinks began with a neck injury during gymnastics when she was eight years old.[6]

She also has Sjögren syndrome,[40] a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease that destroys moisture-producing glands. As the Sjögren Syndrome Foundation's National Awareness Ambassador and Spokesperson, she has expressed her commitment to increasing awareness of SS and promoting funding for research, treatment, and a cure.[41]

On September 17, 2019, Inaba stated that she had been recently diagnosed with Lupus.[41]

She also has chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic pain, and fibromyalgia.[40] In 2019 while on The Talk, Inaba also opened up about struggling with Tourette Syndrome as a child.[42]

On December 10, 2020, it was reported that she tested positive for COVID-19, but later recovered.[43]

In March 2023, Inaba posted on Instagram that she was diagnosed with acute gangrenous appendicitis and was required to undergo an emergency appendectomy.[44]

Philanthropy

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Inaba has worked with the Entertainment Industry Foundation's iParticipate campaign, an American volunteer advocacy group, and Drea's Dream, a dance therapy initiative for children who have cancer.[45] She's also a founding member of Nigel Lythgoe's dance education organization, the Dizzy Feet Foundation.[46] After her mother's battle with cancer in 2008, both women began to participate in the EIF Revlon Run/Walk for Women.[6]

Reception

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Prevention magazine called her judging style "warm, cheerful, and empathetic".[6]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Film Role Notes
1993 Rhythm & Jam Dancer TV movie
1995 Lord of Illusions Dancer
1995 Showgirls Goddess Dancer
1995 Monster Mash: The Movie Singer/Dancer #2 Direct to-VHS
1999 Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Felicity's Dancer #1
1999 American Virgin Hiromi Direct to-DVD
2000 Boys and Girls Dancer
2002 Austin Powers in Goldmember Fook Yu

Television

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Year Film Role Notes
1990–1992 In Living Color Fly Girl 68 episodes
1999 Jack & Jill Dancer Episode: Fear and Loathing in Gotham
2000–2001 Nikki Dancer 4 episodes
2005–present Dancing with the Stars Judge
2009 Hannah Montana Tina Episode: Papa's Got a Brand New Friend
2010–2011 1 vs. 100 Host
2017–2021 The Talk Herself (co-host) co-host; 47 episodes (guest co-host)

Footnotes

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Notes

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^ a: The American Foundation for the Blind defines legal blindness as vision worse than 20/200 with the best possible correction (even with corrective lenses).[47]

References

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  1. ^ "Carrie Ann Inaba". TV Guide. Archived from the original on September 17, 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Let's Get Ready to Rumba!". People. Vol. 64, no. 2. July 11, 2005. p. 119. Archived from the original on December 20, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  3. ^ Ryan, Tim (July 19, 2005). "Life's just a big kick". Star Bulletin. Archived from the original on August 8, 2010. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Rizzo, Monica (October 16, 2006). "Dancing with the Stars' Carrie Ann Inaba". People. Vol. 66, no. 16. p. 126. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d e Siegler, Bonnie (September–October 2007). "Carrie Ann Inaba". American Fitness. Vol. 25, no. 5. pp. 49–51.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Hahn, Kate (April 2011). "A Perfect Score". Prevention. Vol. 63, no. 4. pp. 92–97.
  7. ^ "Carrie Ann Inaba '00". UCLA. May 22, 2015. Archived from the original on April 23, 2018. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  8. ^ a b Bivona, Michael (2009). Dancing Around the World With Mike and Barbara Bivona. Trafford Publishing. p. 579. ISBN 9781426922787.
  9. ^ Yang, Jeff (February 20, 2009). "ASIAN POP Reality Bites / Have Fook Yu and Fook Mi hit the big time?". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2005.
  10. ^ Thomas, Karen (July 6, 2006). "'The View' from here on out: Who will it be?". USA Today. Archived from the original on June 29, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  11. ^ "Feud for Thought". Dance Magazine. Vol. 8, no. 1. January 2008. p. 17.
  12. ^ Morris, Natalie (December 1, 2021). "Inside Bruno Tonioli's Relationship With Carrie Ann Inaba". The List. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  13. ^ Staff, OK! (January 16, 2008). "OK! Interview: Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli". OK Magazine. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  14. ^ Rizzo, Monica (March 16, 2009). "Carrie Ann Inaba". People. Vol. 71, no. 10. p. 47. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  15. ^ Molloy, Tim (July 29, 2009). "Carrie Ann Inaba, Chris Harrison Join TV Guide Network's Red Carpet Coverage". TV Guide. Archived from the original on August 1, 2009. Retrieved July 29, 2009.
  16. ^ "Carrie Ann Inaba Not Returning to GSN's 1 vs. 100 – Will the Show Go On?". July 29, 2011. Archived from the original on April 14, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
  17. ^ de Moraes, Lisa (January 2, 2019). "CBS Makes It Official: Carrie Ann Inaba Debuts As Julie Chen Replacement On 'The Talk'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 2, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  18. ^ Del Rosario, Alexandra (April 26, 2021). "'The Talk' Co-Host Carrie Ann Inaba Takes Leave Of Absence From CBS Show: "Health Is The Most Important Thing"". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  19. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (August 20, 2021). "Carrie Ann Inaba Exits CBS' 'The Talk' After 3 Seasons". Deadline. Archived from the original on August 21, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  20. ^ Duca, Lauren (February 13, 2015). "How The Misogynistic Mess That Was 'Who Wants To Marry A Multi-Millionaire?' Inspired 'The Bachelor'". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on December 17, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  21. ^ "American Dancer". USA Dance. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  22. ^ "MAKING THE SCENE". Hollywood Reporter. Vol. 410, no. 46. August 4, 2009. p. 15.
  23. ^ "Behind the Curtains: The Evolution and Impact of Asian Americans in Theatre". US–China Institute. Archived from the original on March 22, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  24. ^ "Fil-Ams Honored at Asian-American Theater Awards". BakitWhy. Archived from the original on July 25, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  25. ^ "Ballroom Banter". People. Vol. 66, no. 18. October 30, 2006. p. 20. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  26. ^ "Carrie Ann Inaba Gets Engaged On Live Tv So How Did Jake Gyllenhaal Almost Blow It". E! Online. March 31, 2011. Archived from the original on April 4, 2011. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  27. ^ "Carrie Ann Inaba: I Met My Fiance Online!". Access Online. October 26, 2011. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  28. ^ "DWTS' Carrie Ann Inaba: I'm Getting Married This Summer!". Us Weekly. March 7, 2011. Archived from the original on October 1, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  29. ^ "Carrie Ann Inaba Calls Off Her Engagement". People. September 9, 2012. Archived from the original on October 26, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
  30. ^ "Carrie Ann Inaba and Robb Derringer Get Engaged After 'Perfect' Proposal". December 14, 2016. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
  31. ^ Sblendorio, Peter (September 13, 2017). "'Dancing with the Stars' judge Carrie Ann Inaba and Robb Derringer call off engagement". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on September 13, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  32. ^ Dupre, Elyse (September 13, 2017). "Dancing With the Stars' Carrie Ann Inaba and Robb Derringer Call Off Their Engagement". E!. Archived from the original on September 13, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  33. ^ "Carrie Ann Inaba To Host The Humane Society Of The United States' 26th Annual Genesis Awards". KCBS. March 22, 2012. Archived from the original on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  34. ^ "Carrie Ann Inaba's PETA Ad Campaign". People. August 26, 2009. Archived from the original on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  35. ^ Helin, Jung (November 6, 2012). "Carrie Ann Inaba Launches Animal Foundation". People. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  36. ^ Blas, Lorena (March 12, 2012). "The cat's meow is the bee's knees". USA Today. p. 10b.
  37. ^ "Carrie Ann Inaba". People. Vol. 81, no. 16. April 21, 2014. pp. 85–86.
  38. ^ "Carrie Ann Inaba's Health and Fitness Tips". Prevention. November 3, 2011. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  39. ^ "Carrie Ann Inaba exclusive interview". Prevention. November 3, 2011. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  40. ^ a b Bloom, Mike (September 28, 2020). "The Real Reason Why Carrie Ann Inaba Is Wearing Wigs on Dancing With the Stars for Season 29". Parade. Archived from the original on October 10, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  41. ^ a b "Carrie Ann Inaba doesn't let Sjögren's syndrome stand in her way". NIH MedlinePlus Magazine. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  42. ^ "'People laugh at my tics' - These stars have been diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome". uk.style.yahoo.com. December 10, 2022. Archived from the original on May 28, 2023. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  43. ^ "'Dancing with the Stars' judge Carrie Ann Inaba tested positive for coronavirus". Fox News. December 10, 2020. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  44. ^ "DWTS judge Carrie Ann Inaba recovering from emergency appendectomy". Good Morning America. March 31, 2023. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  45. ^ Rizzo, Monica (October 26, 2009). "MY MOTHER'S BREAST CANCER BATTLE". People. Vol. 72, no. 17. p. 90. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  46. ^ Zar, Rachel (November 2009). "So You Think You Can Improve Dance Education?". Dance Magazine. Vol. 83, no. 11. p. 58.
  47. ^ "Key Definitions of Statistical Terms". American Foundation for the Blind. Archived from the original on June 26, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
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