Alfonso Ribeiro

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. He received positive reviews for his performance and was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award.[4] Ribeiro appeared as a dancer in a Pepsi commercial that featured Michael Jackson in 1984;[5] a rumor spread that Ribeiro died from snapping his neck while dancing in the commercial.[6] The same year, Ribeiro was cast as Rick Schroder's best friend on the TV series Silver Spoons.[7] In 1985, Ribeiro appeared as himself in a commercial on MTV, advertising a dance instruction book he authored called Alfonso's Breakin' & Poppin' Book. In 1986, he released a 12-inch rap record called "Timebomb" on Prism Records.

Ribeiro's breakout role was as Carlton Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from September 1990 to May 1996, the cousin to Will Smith's lead character. Carlton, the character, was known for frequently dancing to Tom Jones's "It's Not Unusual", a dance routine that gained fame as "The Carlton".[8]

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. In July 2008, Ribeiro began hosting the game show Catch 21 on GSN. He also directed some episodes of Meet the Browns and a majority of the Season 2 episodes of Are We There Yet? television series. In 2013, Ribeiro began hosting his second game show, Spell-Mageddon, on ABC Family.

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.[9] In November of that year, Ribeiro took part as a contestant in the thirteenth series of the British reality show, I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here.[10] He was eliminated from the show on December 5, 2013, 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. He 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.[11] In September 2015, he returned as a guest judge in week three of Season 21, and he subbed for Tom Bergeron as host the following week.

On May 19, 2015, Ribeiro was named as Tom Bergeron's successor to host America's Funniest Home Videos.[12] In July 2015, Ribeiro made a cameo appearance in the music video for "All Night" by pop-rock band R5.[13]

In October 2018, he was announced as the host of the UK game show Money Tree. On October 12, 2018, Ribeiro was announced to sit in for Bruno Tonioli as guest judge on Strictly Come Dancing for week 5. He joined regular judges Craig Revel Horwood, Darcey Bussell, and Shirley Ballas. This also occurred for week 5 of the 2019 series. He also appeared as a contestant on a special Child TV Stars episode of The Weakest Link in 2001. He made it into the final round but lost to Keisha Knight-Pulliam.

On July 6, 2019, syndicated radio show "The 90s with Alfonso Ribeiro" launched on multiple radio stations across the country via Sun Broadcast Group.[14][15] Radio veteran Daena Kramer (DK) joined him as co-host. The 3-hour weekly show celebrates 1990s music and culture while Alfonso and DK share their stories, pop culture facts and fun memories from the 1990s.

Ribeiro was previously married to Robin Stapler from January 2002 until August 2006. They have one child together, a daughter of whom they share joint custody.[16]

Ribeiro married Angela Unkrich on October 13, 2012, following a three-month long engagement.[17][18] The two live in Los Angeles and have two sons: Alfonso Lincoln Ribeiro Jr. (b. 2013), also known as A. J., and Anders Reyn Ribeiro (b. 2015).[19][20] They also have a daughter who was born in May 2019.[21]

In December 2018, NBC and CBS reported that 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.[22][23] 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.[24] On March 7, 2019, Ribeiro dropped the lawsuit.[25]