Samantha Harris (born Samantha Harris Shapiro; November 27, 1973) is an American television presenter, model, and

entertainment reporter Entertainment journalism is any form of journalism that focuses on popular culture and the entertainment business and its products. Like fashion journalism, entertainment journalism covers industry-specific news while targeting general audiences be ...

and actress, known as the co-host of seasons two through nine of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

'' with

Tom Bergeron Thomas Raymond Bergeron (born May 6, 1955) is an American television personality, comedian, and game show host, best known for hosting ''Breakfast Time'' from 1994 to 1997, '' Hollywood Squares'' from 1998 to 2004, '' America's Funniest Home Vid ...

. From 2010–12, she was a correspondent at ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...

''. In September 2015, she returned to the program as a co-anchor for the weekend edition.

Early life

Harris was born in

Hopkins, Minnesota Hopkins is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, located west of Minneapolis. The population was 19,079 at the 2020 census. The city is four square miles in size and is surrounded by the larger suburban communities of ...

, to Richard, a rock 'n' roll promoter, and Bonnie (née Harris) Shapiro, a dancer. In 1982, her parents founded a

renaissance festival A Renaissance Festival (medieval fair or ren faire) is an outdoor gathering that aims to entertain its guests by recreating a historical setting, most often the English Renaissance. Renaissance festivals generally include costumed entertainers ...

, known as

King Richard's Faire King Richard's Faire is a Renaissance Faire held in Carver, Massachusetts, Carver, Massachusetts, which recreates a 16th-century marketplace, including handmade crafts, foods, musicians, singers, dancers, minstrels, mimes, jugglers, whip artists, ...

, which operates in

Carver, Massachusetts Carver is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,645 at the 2020 census. It is named for John Carver (Mayflower passenger), John Carver, the first governor of the Plymouth Colony. The town features two po ...

, seasonally, which continues . She had a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

upbringing. She graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

TV hosting

On December 16, 2008, Harris joined '' The Insider'' as a substitute host and correspondent. She had previously been a correspondent with

E! Entertainment Television E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable television network. It is owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The channel focuses primarily on pop culture, celebrity based reality shows and movie ...

's ''

E! News ''E! News'', previously known as ''E! News Daily'' and ''E! News Live'', is the infotainment, entertainment news operation for the cable network E! in the United States. Its former on-air weekday newscast debuted on September 1, 1991, and prima ...

'', and host of ''THS Investigates''. In addition to writing, producing and reporting daily for E! News, she co-hosted the network's live award-show coverage for the

Oscars The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence i ...

Golden Globes The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

and

Emmys The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

. She has also appeared as a special correspondent on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

''. Prior to joining E!, Harris served as a weekend co-host for the

infotainment Infotainment (a portmanteau of ''information'' and ''entertainment''), also called soft news as a way to distinguish it from serious journalism or hard news, is a type of media, usually television or online, that provides a combination of inform ...

show ''

Extra Extra, Xtra, or The Extra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * The Extra (1962 film), ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * The Extra (2005 film), ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * Extra (newspaper), ...

'', where she interviewed hundreds of celebrities and served as an anchor for the show's

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

bureau. Her best known hosting job was for ''

'' along with

. She took over in 2006 for

Lisa Canning Lisa Canning (born November 7, 1966) is an American television and radio hostess and correspondent. Career A native of Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Canning served, beginning in 1988, as music director at radio station WKDA in Los Angeles, ...

. Her other hosting credits include Fox's '' The Next Joe Millionaire'' and ''AMC Access'' (the short-lived spinoff of ''

Access Hollywood ''Access Hollywood'', briefly known as ''Access'' from 2017 to 2019, is an American weekday television entertainment news program that premiered on September 9, 1996. It covers events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was create ...

'' produced for

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

). Additionally, she also served as a guest co-host on ''

The View ''The View'' is an American talk show created by broadcast journalist Barbara Walters. , in its 28th season, the show has aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC as part of the network's ABC Daytime, daytime programming block since August ...

''. She hosted a week of ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (British game show), British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, cu ...

'' shows on May 11–15, 2009. Harris announced on January 28, 2010, that she would leave ''

'' to focus on other projects like her correspondent duties at '' The Insider'' and ''

''. Season 7 champion

Brooke Burke Brooke Lisa Burke (born September 8, 1971) is an American television and fitness personality, model, author, actress, and businesswoman. She is known for hosting the E! Network travel show '' Wild On!'' (1999–2002), CBS's ''Rock Star'' (2 ...

replaced Harris as co-host in the spring 2010 season. Harris replaced

Ahmad Rashad Ahmad Rashad ( ; born Robert Earl Moore; November 19, 1949) is an American sportscaster and former professional football wide receiver. He was the fourth overall selection of the 1972 NFL draft, taken by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was known ...

as host of

Game Show Network Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by the television network division of Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along wit ...

's '' Tug of Words'' for the show's second season, which premiered November 14, 2022.

Acting work

Her film and television credits include '' D3: The Mighty Ducks'', '' Drop Dead Gorgeous'', '' Surviving Gilligan's Island'' (in which she portrayed the actress

Dawn Wells Dawn Elberta Wells (October 18, 1938 – December 30, 2020) was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Mary Ann Summers in the sitcom ''Gilligan's Island''. Early life Wells was born to Evelyn (née Steinbrenner) and Joe Wesle ...

), ''

Reefer Madness ''Reefer Madness'' (originally made as ''Tell Your Children'' and sometimes titled ''The Burning Question'', ''Dope Addict'', ''Doped Youth'', and ''Love Madness'') is a 1938/1939 American exploitation film about drugs, revolving around the me ...

'', ''

Beautiful Beautiful, an adjective used to describe things as possessing beauty, may refer to: Film and theater * ''Beautiful'' (2000 film), an American film directed by Sally Field * ''Beautiful'' (2008 film), a South Korean film directed by Juhn Jai-h ...

'', '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', among others. She made her Broadway debut in 2009 as

Roxie Hart Roxanne "Roxie" Hart is a fictional character. She is the main character of the 1926 play ''Chicago'' and its various remakes and derivatives. Development The playwright, reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, was inspired by the trials, both of which ...

in ''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

''. She performed a six-week engagement in the long-running musical from July 7 through August 16 at the Ambassador Theatre. After her Broadway run, Harris played Roxie in the Greenville, SC, engagement of the national tour, August 18–23, at the Peace Center.

Public image

Harris has been a three-time cover girl model for ''

Muscle & Fitness ''Muscle & Fitness'' is an American fitness and bodybuilding magazine founded in 1935 by Canadian entrepreneur Joe Weider. It was originally published under the title ''Your Physique'', before being renamed to ''Muscle Builder'' in 1954, and ac ...

: HERS'', and for ''

FHM ''FHM'' (For Him Magazine) was a printed British multinational men's lifestyle magazine that was published in several countries. It contained features such as the ''FHM'' 100 Sexiest Women in the World. The final printed issue of British ''F ...

'', ''

SELF In philosophy, the self is an individual's own being, knowledge, and values, and the relationship between these attributes. The first-person perspective distinguishes selfhood from personal identity. Whereas "identity" is (literally) same ...

'', and ''

SHAPE A shape is a graphics, graphical representation of an object's form or its external boundary, outline, or external Surface (mathematics), surface. It is distinct from other object properties, such as color, Surface texture, texture, or material ...

'' magazines, and in various ads and commercials. She was featured in the December 2006 issue of FHM magazine. In November 2007, Harris was announced as the spokesperson for Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula line, where she was featured in a national print and television campaign. That occurred as Harris won consecutive 2007 and 2008 Crown Awards for the "Best Hairstyle on Television" from voters at Super-Hair.Net.

Personal life

Harris married Michael Hess in 2005. Harris gave birth to the couple's first daughter in 2007 and missed the season five premiere of ''

''. She returned on October 15, 2007.

Drew Lachey Andrew John Lachey (born August 8, 1976) is an American singer and occasional actor. He is known as a member of 98 Degrees, the winner of the second season of ''Dancing with the Stars'', and the younger brother of Nick Lachey. Early years And ...

, winner of season two, filled in for the first three weeks of competition while Harris was out. Three years later, Harris delivered the couple's second daughter. In April 2014, Harris announced that she was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

and would undergo a

double mastectomy Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer choose to have ...

. In October 2014, she announced that she was cancer free.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Samantha 1973 births Living people Actresses from Minnesota American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American television actresses American television hosts American women television hosts American television reporters and correspondents Jewish American actresses Jewish American journalists American philanthropists Jewish female models Journalists from Minnesota Medill School of Journalism alumni People from Hopkins, Minnesota American women television journalists Female models from Minnesota 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women