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Carrie Ann Inaba has been judging celebrity dancer-hopefuls since 2005 on Dancing with the Stars, but her career goes way beyond just giving scores to the show’s contestants.
Inaba is a multi-talented entertainer who got her start at 18 when she won a talent show in Hawaii and consequently became a pop star in Japan (as one does). She lived in Tokyo for two years and released three singles: “Party Girl,” “Be Your Girl,” and “Yume no Senaka.” In an interview with People, Inaba shared that the experience was less than ideal. “It was horrifying. Being there I realized it has nothing to do with how artistic you are. Your face becomes a logo they sell.”
After leaving the J-pop world, Inaba joined the cast of In Living Color as a “Fly Girl” from 1990 to 1992. She was soon hired to perform a dance solo for Madonna’s 1993 Girlie Show World Tour provided that she shaved her head. “I thought twice about it,” Inaba admitted to People. “But I was like, ‘Are you kidding me? This is Madonna!’ The tour had an impact on Inaba beyond teaching her some cool new moves. According to Inaba, Madonna was a stickler for punctuality and would fine dancers $100 if they were late to rehearsal, so Inaba is now chronically early for everything.
Inaba pursued higher education while building her career. She first attended UCI before eventually graduating from UCLA in 2000 with a degree in world arts and cultures. Before landing her spot on the judges panel in Dancing with the Stars, she had small parts in movies like Austin Powers in Goldmember and choreographed for reality shows like American Idol. In addition to Dancing with the Stars, Inaba was a co-host for the CBS talk show, The Talk until 2021 when she left for health reasons.
What is Carrie Ann Inaba’s ethnicity?
Inaba was born on Jan. 5, 1968 in Honolulu, Hawaii and is of Japanese, Chinese, and Irish descent. She has frequently spoken about her heritage, how it shaped her self-identity, and is a long-time supporter of CAPE, the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment.
“As an Asian American young woman growing up in Hawaii, our beauty standards were all about natural beauty. The focus was not visual; it was about what your energy says about you. There is so much heritage and different culture, that there was no ‘one’ standard of beauty. In Hawaii, we would look at each other with wonder and excitement.”
– Carrie Ann Inaba to Ask Us Beauty
Per its website, Inaba joined CAPE’s Board of Directors in 2011.
In 2015, Inaba spoke with CAPE as part of its #IAm campaign. She shared the story of how she started her career as well as AAPI entertainers like Pat Morita and Nia Peeples inspired her to pursue a career in entertainment. “Seeing someone like that enabled me to pursue my dreams wholeheartedly and without fear,” she said of Peeples in particular, emphasizing the value of representation in media.
Inaba struggles with chronic illness and has been diagnosed with lupus, fibromyalgia, Sjögren syndrome, and chronic fatigue syndrome. She created a website, Carrie Ann Conversations, to start conversations about mental and physical health. You can keep up with Inaba by tuning into season 33 of Dancing with the Stars or by following her on her social media.