Samantha Harris

Samantha Harris, born Samantha Harris Shapiro on November 27, 1973, in Hopkins, Minnesota, is an American actress, television presenter, model, and entertainment reporter. Her father, Richard, worked as a rock 'n' roll promoter, and her mother, Bonnie, née Harris Shapiro, was a dancer. In 1982, her parents established King Richard's Faire, a renaissance festival that operates seasonally in Carver, Massachusetts, and remains active as of 2025. Harris was raised Jewish and later graduated from Northwestern University.

Harris built an extensive career in television hosting before transitioning to Broadway. She served as a weekend co-host on the infotainment program Extra, where she anchored the show's Las Vegas bureau and conducted interviews with numerous celebrities. She subsequently worked as a correspondent for E! News, contributing daily writing, producing, and reporting, and co-hosted the network's live coverage of the Oscars, Golden Globes, and Emmys. Her hosting credits also include Fox's The Next Joe Millionaire and AMC Access, a short-lived spinoff of Access Hollywood produced for AMC. She appeared as a guest co-host on The View and as a special correspondent on Good Morning America.

Harris is perhaps best known as co-host of Dancing with the Stars alongside Tom Bergeron, a role she held from season two through season nine beginning in 2006, when she succeeded Lisa Canning. During season five in 2007, she missed the premiere following the birth of her first daughter; Drew Lachey, the season two winner, filled in for the first three weeks while she was absent, and she returned on October 15, 2007. On January 28, 2010, Harris announced her departure from the series to pursue other projects, and season seven champion Brooke Burke replaced her in the spring 2010 season. Additional hosting work included a week of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire episodes airing May 11–15, 2009, and, beginning November 14, 2022, she replaced Ahmad Rashad as host of Game Show Network's Tug of Words for the program's second season.

Her correspondent work continued at The Insider, where she joined as a substitute host and correspondent on December 16, 2008, having previously hosted THS Investigates for E!. From 2010 to 2012, she served as a correspondent at Entertainment Tonight, and in September 2015 she returned to that program as a co-anchor for the weekend edition, remaining in that capacity through 2016.

Harris made her Broadway debut in 2009, playing Roxie Hart in Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre. Her engagement in the long-running musical ran six weeks, from July 7 through August 16. Following her Broadway run, she continued in the role during the national tour's Greenville, South Carolina, engagement at the Peace Center from August 18 through 23. The database record noting a 1996 Broadway appearance in Chicago also appears among her verified credits.

Her film and television acting credits include D3: The Mighty Ducks, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Surviving Gilligan's Island, in which she portrayed actress Dawn Wells, Reefer Madness, Beautiful, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. As a model, Harris appeared on three covers of Muscle & Fitness: HERS and was featured in FHM, SELF, and SHAPE magazines, including the December 2006 issue of FHM. In November 2007, she became the spokesperson for Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula, appearing in a national print and television campaign. That same year and in 2008, she received consecutive Crown Awards for Best Hairstyle on Television from voters at Super-Hair.Net.

Harris married Michael Hess in 2004. The couple's first daughter was born in 2007, and a second daughter followed three years later. In April 2014, Harris publicly disclosed a breast cancer diagnosis and announced she would undergo a double mastectomy. In October 2014, she announced she had been declared cancer free.