Carrie Ann Inaba
Born January 5, 1968, in Honolulu, Hawaii, Carrie Ann Inaba rose to fame as a judge on the hit reality competition show Dancing With the Stars.
A lifelong dancer, Inaba won a statewide dancing competition in Hawaii at 16 years old and relocated to Japan to become a “Teen Idol” after graduating high school. While in Japan, she released three singles as a musician before deciding to move to California to pursue her dream of becoming a dancer.
Inaba’s first few jobs including dancing on the hit show In Living Color to touring with Madonna and Ricky Martin. She choreographed several A-list events before nabbing a seat at the judges’ table on DWTS in 2005. Due to the success of the show, she launched a spin-off in 2008 called Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann.
Inaba split from So You Think You Can Dance contestant and assistant choreographer, Artem Chigvintsev, in November 2008 after a two year relationship. In March 2011, Jesse Sloan proposed to Inaba during an appearance on LIVE! With Regis and Kelly, but the couple has since parted ways. The dancer became engaged to actor Robb Derringer in December of 2016, but called off the engagement in September of the next year.