A seasoned entertainment news journalist and two-time Emmy-nominated TV personality, Samantha Harris is best-known for co-hosting the hit ABC series Dancing With The Stars,  which averages more than 30 million viewers weekly. 

It has been a big year for Samantha so far.  Not only did she join CBS Television Distribution’s The Insider as a correspondent and fill-in anchor, Harris also spent a week filling in for host for Meredith Vieira on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.  Additionally, Samantha made her Broadway debut this summer in New York City, singing and dancing for sold-out audiences playing the iconic role of “Roxie Hart” in the Tony Award-winning musical CHICAGO.

Daytime TV viewers have also enjoyed Samantha’s contributions as a special correspondent on ABC’s Good Morning America and multiple times as a guest co-host on ABC’s The View.  One of her greatest honors was hosting, alongside Regis Philbin, the official live red carpet pre-show for the 80th Annual Academy Awards, which garnered nearly one billion viewers worldwide. 

Beginning in January 2005 and continuing for four years, Harris was seen in over 130 countries in 600 million homes on E! Entertainment Television.  In addition to writing, producing and reporting daily for E! News, she co-hosted the network’s live award-show coverage for the Oscars, Golden Globes and Emmys.  Samantha has also found herself reporting from inside San Quentin Penitentiary as host for E!’s THS Investigates, a spin-off series from the producers of E! True Hollywood Story. 

Prior to her work on The Insider and at E!, Samantha served as the weekend co-host and a full-time correspondent for the nationally syndicated entertainment news magazine Extrawhich she joined in 2003.  As a correspondent who sought out unique stories, Samantha took to the stage performing with Cirque du Soleil, sang a duet with Wayne Newton during his live show in Las Vegas, as well as dancing her way into the arms of Patrick Swayze backstage while he performed in Chicago.  She also launched the first-ever Las Vegas bureau for Extra.  Samantha’s other hosting credits include Fox Network’s The Next Joe Millionaire, AMC Access (a show produced by NBC’s Access Hollywood for the AMC network), as well as a myriad of cable shows and pilots.

Harris’ triple-threat talents extended from the stage to the screen.  Hot off the North American tour Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python (where Samantha’s comedic, vocal, and dance performance electrified audiences at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and other prestigious venues), CBS cast her as America’s sweetheart, “Mary Ann,” in its made-for-TV movie Surviving Gilligan’s Island.  Samantha’s other acting credits include the multi-award winning Reefer Madness!: The New “Hit” Musical(original cast) as well as multiple feature films and television shows.

In addition to gracing the cover of Muscle & Fitness HERS magazine a record four times,Samantha has also been seen on the covers of USA Today magazine, FIRST, Fit Parent, YogaMom, Sun Country Airlines in-flight, Pilates Style and Pregnancy & Newborn (while pregnant with her daughter).  She has been featured inmany magazines including SHAPE, People, Health, US Weekly, In Touch, Life & Style,  FHM, and SELF.  As a fitness enthusiast, she loves dancing, cardio-sculpting, Bikrim and traditional yoga, as well as hiking but will also confess… she’s a dessert fanatic!

Samantha is actively involved in various charities. She is on the Entertainment Council of Feeding America (www.feedingamerica.org) and has previously supported the Revlon Run/Walk and What A Pair for cancer research, Operation Smile, P.S. Arts as well as the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.

In 2009, Samantha was given the honor of making her Wall Street debut by ‘Ringing The Bell’ to open trading at the New York Stock Exchange in front of an international audience of more than 120 million people.

Born and raised in Hopkins, MN by a rock concert promoter father and dancer mother – who together created and produced one of the country’s first Renaissance festivals, King Richard’s Faire, Samantha went on to graduate with honors from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism in Evanston, IL.  She currently resides in Los Angeles, CA, with her husband, Michael, and their daughter, Josselyn.