Samantha Harris (born Samantha Harris Shapiro; November 27, 1973) is an American television presenter, model, and entertainment reporter and actress, known as the co-host of seasons two through nine of Dancing with the Stars with Tom Bergeron. From 2010–12, she was a correspondent at Entertainment Tonight. In September 2015, she returned to the program as a co-anchor for the weekend edition. Early life Harris was born in Hopkins, Minnesota, to Richard, a rock 'n' roll promoter, and Bonnie (née Harris) Shapiro, a dancer. In 1982, her parents founded a renaissance festival, known as King Richard's Faire, which operates in Carver, Massachusetts, seasonally, which continues . She had a Jewish upbringing. She graduated from Northwestern University. 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's E! News, 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, Golden Globes and Emmys. She has also appeared as a special correspondent on Good Morning America. Prior to joining E!, Harris served as a weekend co-host for the infotainment show Extra, where she interviewed hundreds of celebrities and served as an anchor for the show's Las Vegas bureau. Her best known hosting job was for Dancing with the Stars along with Tom Bergeron. She took over in 2006 for Lisa Canning. Her other hosting credits include Fox's The Next Joe Millionaire and AMC Access (the short-lived spinoff of Access Hollywood produced for AMC). Additionally, she also served as a guest co-host on The View. She hosted a week of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire shows on May 11–15, 2009. Harris announced on January 28, 2010 that she would leave Dancing with the Stars to focus on other projects like her correspondent duties at The Insider and Entertainment Tonight. Season 7 champion Brooke Burke replaced Harris as co-host in the spring 2010 season. Harris replaced Ahmad Rashad as host of Game Show Network'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), Reefer Madness, Beautiful, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, among others. She made her Broadway debut in 2009 as Roxie Hart