Alfonso Ribeiro

Ribeiro was born in New York City in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx^[1] to parents of Trinidadian descent.^[2] His paternal grandfather was Albert Ribeiro, a calypsonian known professionally as Lord Hummingbird.^[3] His aunt had been a dancer on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In in the 1960s and 1970s.^[3]

Ribeiro began his career at age 8. He first gained recognition in 1983 when he played a leading role in the Broadway musical The Tap Dance Kid.^[4] He received positive reviews for his performance and was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award.^[5] Ribeiro appeared as a dancer in a Pepsi commercial that featured Michael Jackson in 1984;^[6] a rumor spread that Ribeiro died from snapping his neck while dancing in the commercial.^[7] The same year, Ribeiro was cast as Rick Schroder's best friend on the TV series Silver Spoons,^[8] after which he and his family moved to Los Angeles.^[1]

In 1985, Ribeiro authored a dance instruction book, Alfonso's Breakin' & Poppin' Book, and appeared in a commercial advertising it.^[9] He also released four 12-inch singles on Prism Records, including the 1984 track "Dance Baby".^[10] After Silver Spoons ended, Ribeiro took a hiatus from acting to finish high school and attend California State University, Los Angeles.^[3]

Ribeiro's most prominent role was as Carlton Banks, the cousin of Will Smith's lead character, on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from September 1990 to May 1996. Carlton was known for frequently dancing to Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual", a dance routine that gained fame as "The Carlton".^[11] Ribeiro based "The Carlton" on Eddie Murphy's "white man dance" and Courteney Cox's dance from Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" music video.^[1]

Ribeiro starred on the sitcom In the House with LL Cool J from 1997 to 1999.^[12] He graduated from the New York Film Academy in 1999 and would go on to direct episodes of One on One, All of Us, Meet the Browns, Are We There Yet?, Shake It Up and K.C. Undercover.^[3]

Ribeiro appeared as a contestant on a special child TV stars episode of Weakest Link in 2001.^[13] He made it into the final round but lost to Keshia Knight-Pulliam.

Ribeiro competed as one of the celebrity singers on the reality television show Celebrity Duets in September 2006, winning over the runner-up Lucy Lawless.^[14] From 2008 to 2016, Ribeiro hosted the game show Catch 21 on GSN.^[3]

On May 24, 2013, Ribeiro made a cameo appearance on The Graham Norton Show to perform "The Carlton Dance", with show guests Will and Jaden Smith.^[15] On July 24, he began hosting his second game show, Spell-Mageddon, on ABC Family.^[16] On November 17, Ribeiro became a contestant in the thirteenth series of the British reality show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here.^[17] He was eliminated from the show on December 5, finishing in seventh place.^[18]

On September 4, 2014, Ribeiro was announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on season 19 of Dancing with the Stars.^[19] He partnered with professional dancer Witney Carson and became the fourth celebrity dancer in the show's history to receive a 9 from each judge in week one. On November 25, 2014, Ribeiro and Carson won the competition.^[20] After his victory, he hosted the nationwide live tour for the show.^[4]

On May 19, 2015, Ribeiro was named Tom Bergeron's successor to host America's Funniest Home Videos.^[21] In July, Ribeiro made a cameo appearance in the music video for "All Night" by pop-rock band R5.^[22] In September, he returned to Dancing with the Stars as a guest judge in week three of season 21, and he substituted for Bergeron as host the following week, after Bergeron's father became ill.^[23]

In October 2018, he was announced as the host of the British game show Money Tree.^[24] That month, it was also announced that Ribeiro would sit in for Bruno Tonioli as guest judge on Strictly Come Dancing for week 5, joining regular judges Craig Revel Horwood, Darcey Bussell, and Shirley Ballas.^[25] This would also occur in week 5 of the 2019 series.^[26]

Catch 21 was revived in 2019, and Ribeiro returned as the host, with his former Dancing with the Stars partner Witney Carson joining as co-host.^[27] His role earned him a 2020 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Game Show Host, but he lost to Alex Trebek.^[28] He earned another nomination the following year, but again lost to Trebek.^[29]

In 2020, Ribeiro starred in a series of commercials for State Farm Insurance as a Chris Paul impersonator.^[3] In 2021, he voiced a character in Muppets Haunted Mansion.^[30]

In 2022, Ribeiro joined season 31 of Dancing with the Stars as co-host of the show, alongside host Tyra Banks.^[31][32] After Banks departed the show following season 31,^[33] Ribeiro became the main host of the show, with Julianne Hough joining as co-host, assuming Ribeiro's previous role.^[34]

On July 6, 2019, the syndicated radio show The '90s with Alfonso Ribeiro launched on multiple radio stations across the country via Sun Broadcast Group, co-hosted by radio veteran Daena "DK" Kramer.^[35][36] The three-hour weekly show celebrates 1990s music and culture while Ribeiro and Kramer share their stories, pop culture facts and memories from the 1990s.

 

Ribeiro was married to Robin Stapler from January 2002 until August 2006.^[37] They have a daughter, born in October 2002.^[38]

Ribeiro married Angela Unkrich on October 13, 2012, following a three-month engagement.^[39][40] The two live in Los Angeles and have three children, born in 2013, 2015, and 2019.^[41][42][43]

Ribeiro competed in several editions of the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race car race in Long Beach, earning an overall win in 2015 and celebrity class wins in 1994, 1995 and 2016.^[44] He also worked as radio spotter for CART racecar driver Bryan Herta, and performed the national anthem at CART and IndyCar Series races.^[45]

In December 2018, Ribeiro, along with Instagram star Russell Horning, aka Backpack Kid, and rapper Terrence Ferguson, aka 2 Milly, brought a lawsuit against Epic Games for their decision to feature respective choreographies in the popular game Fortnite.^[46][47] In Ribeiro's case, his "Carlton dance", which he made popular in the 1990s as a cast member of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, is one of the many dances that Fortnite players can purchase for their avatars. Epic Games declined to comment on the lawsuits. The U.S. Copyright Office denied him a copyright for his dance on January 13, 2019.^[48] On March 7, 2019, Ribeiro dropped the lawsuit.^[49]

Ribeiro was partnered with Witney Carson for season 19. On November 25, 2014, Ribeiro and Carson were declared the season's champions.

In November 2017, Ribeiro returned to 25th season in Week eight,^[51] to participate in a trio Jive with Frankie Muniz and his professional partner Witney Carson.^[52]

¹ Score given by guest judge Kevin Hart in place of Goodman.

²The American public scored the dance in place of Goodman with the averaged score being counted alongside the three other judges.

³This week only, for "Partner Switch-Up" week, Ribeiro performed with Cheryl Burke instead of Carson.

⁴Score given by guest judge Jessie J in place of Goodman.

⁵Score given by guest judge Pitbull in place of Goodman.

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alfonso Ribeiro.

• Alfonso Ribeiro at IMDb
• Alfonso Ribeiro at Yahoo! Movies
• Alfonso Ribeiro at the Internet Broadway Database  
• Alfonso Ribeiro discography at Discogs
• Alfonso Ribeiro on WISH-TV