Alfonso Ribeiro

His aunt had been a dancer on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In in the 1960s and 1970s.

Ribeiro began his career at age 8.

Alfonso Ribeiro (born September 21, 1971) is an American actor and television host.

He is best known for his roles as Carlton Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Alfonso Spears on the sitcom Silver Spoons, and Maxwell Stanton on In the House.

He is the current host of ABC's America's Funniest Home Videos, taking over for Tom Bergeron, who left after 15 years.

Ribeiro has hosted the GSN game show Catch 21, the ABC Family show Spell-Mageddon, and the television show Dance 360.

He first gained recognition in 1983 when he played a leading role in the Broadway musical The Tap Dance Kid.

He received positive reviews for his performance and was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award.

Ribeiro appeared as a dancer in a Pepsi commercial that featured Michael Jackson in 1984; a rumor spread that Ribeiro died from snapping his neck while dancing in the commercial.

The same year, Ribeiro was cast as Rick Schroder's best friend on the TV series Silver Spoons, after which he and his family moved to Los Angeles.

He also released four 12-inch singles on Prism Records, including the 1984 track "Dance Baby".

After Silver Spoons ended, Ribeiro took a hiatus from acting to finish high school and attend California State University, Los Angeles.

In 1985, Ribeiro authored a dance instruction book, Alfonso's Breakin' & Poppin' Book, and appeared in a commercial advertising it.

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".

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.

Ribeiro starred on the sitcom In the House with LL Cool J from 1997 to 1999.

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.

Ribeiro appeared as a contestant on a special child TV stars episode of Weakest Link in 2001.

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.

From 2008 to 2016, Ribeiro hosted the game show Catch 21 on GSN.

At the beginning of his career, he starred in the title role of the Broadway musical The Tap Dance Kid and later took part in the 13th season of the British reality show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Ribeiro won season 19 of Dancing with the Stars with professional partner Witney Carson, then later became the co-host alongside Tyra Banks starting from season 31.

Ribeiro has served as the main host of Dancing with the Stars alongside co-host Julianne Hough beginning with season 32 in 2023.

Ribeiro was born in New York City in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx to parents of Trinidadian descent.

His paternal grandfather was Albert Ribeiro, a calypsonian known professionally as Lord Hummingbird.

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.

On July 24, he began hosting his second game show, Spell-Mageddon, on ABC Family.

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.

He was eliminated from the show on December 5, finishing in seventh place.

On September 4, 2014, Ribeiro was announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on season 19 of Dancing with the Stars.

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.

After his victory, he hosted the nationwide live tour for the show.

On May 19, 2015, Ribeiro was named Tom Bergeron's successor to host America's Funniest Home Videos.

In July, Ribeiro made a cameo appearance in the music video for "All Night" by pop-rock band R5.

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.

In October 2018, he was announced as the host of the British game show Money Tree.

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.

This would also occur in week 5 of the 2019 series.