Alfonso Ribeiro Reveals How 'DWTS' Changed His Life
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Alfonso Ribeiro, 52, is back as host of America’s Funniest Home Videos (Oct. 1, ABC) as it kicks off its 34th season of laughs generated by viewer-submitted videos, featuring both heartwarming and comic moments of people with their pets and children, epic fails and staged pranks. Ribeiro, who won Season 19 of Dancing with the Stars, has also taken over as host of the dance competition series, now in its 32nd season. He spoke with Parade:
Related: Everything to Know About 'Dancing With the Stars' Season 32, Including Who Is Competing
With AFV entering its 34th season, why do you think people keep tuning in?
It’s funny always. A lot of shows, especially sitcoms, start out, “Oh, my gosh, this is the greatest show, it’s so funny.” Then they do 60 or 70 storylines, people get bored with the characters, they don’t grow, they stay the same. So, all those things that are true about sitcoms and why they no longer stay funny, AFV is the exact opposite of that, while being the exact same.
Now 34 seasons later, here we are showing people doing pratfalls, and people with their kids and the things that kids say, and dogs doing funny faces and funny things, and it’s still very funny.
It’s not a show where you sit and watch by yourself. You sit and watch with other members of your family, so you can join in the fun. They’re bonding moments on the couch on Sunday nights, and I don’t think there’s another way to do these things better than the way AFV does.
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Will there be any changes for the new season?
Each season, we might add a different format, right? We always went to the dog park, but this season we are honoring cats. America’s second favorite pet. So, we’re packaging it slightly different, but it still maintains the core value, the core fun of what the show really is.
You have said that epic fails are your favorite videos. Are they still?
They will always be my favorite. I love when people do things they shouldn’t do. Why they do it and how they do it, I don’t get it, but you would think that people would learn. “Oh, wait a minute, me walking with bare feet on a rainy day on a metal roof, there’s a good chance I’m not going to stay on this roof.” But nope, they go up and they still do it, and they still fall off, and we get to laugh at them—as long as they don’t hit hard and get hurt.
I would imagine that technology has also really improved the show.
Absolutely. The visuals are greater, and we get more videos, right? Everybody has a phone on them, and even if the percentage of people who are taking videos has gone down, the actual number of videos has gone up, so we continue to get more and more videos. At the beginning of COVID, we had a spike in videos that was unbelievable because everybody was sitting at home doing videos, and it kind of rolled over.
How is hosting Home Videos and Dancing With the Stars different?
For AFV, I do a comedic pass. So, I will read the script a couple times and I’ll lock it in a little bit, and then I’ll do what I like to call a “comedic pass” on it; I’ll go through the script trying to figure out where I would add comedy, I go through and make sure that I like what I’m doing from bit to bit, knowing where the videos are going to fit in between so that the show has an arc, that I’m not doing funny bit after funny bit.
Sometimes, there’s some straight reads, sometimes there’s some funny reads, sometimes there’s some silly reads, sometimes there’s maybe a read that an adult would like, not the kids. So, mixing it up, making sure.
Now on Dancing, as the host on the floor, the old Tom Bergeron role, I have to keep this thing moving and make the show feel seamless. I have all my dialog that I will be reading off the teleprompter, but I also have the responsibility of making sure that the show stays on time. And so that might mean moving Bruno [Tonioli] or Carrie Ann [Inaba] or Derek [Hough] along quickly. And then when the contestants go up the stairs to Julianne [Hough] up in the skybox, I need to make it so that I’m finishing my read as they’re walking into the skybox, so that the show feels like a constant flow. It’s a dance show, it’s about movement, so how that movement flows with the words that we’re using is a very important factor to this show. And the No. 1 job that I’ve been told by everyone is that I’ve got to get out right on time.
This is the second time you’re following in Tom Bergeron’s footsteps. What advice did he have for you?
Tom doesn’t come from a perspective of, “I know it all, I’m going to tell you what to do.” He’s always given me simply one note, “Be yourself. You’re there for a reason. People love what you do, just keep doing you, just be you. Figure out how to do the job, do the work, but just be you.” It’s the best feel-good advice you could ask for, because at the end of the day he’s telling you what you really do need to do, and that is be confident up there and allow for your natural ability to come through and for the fans to see it. And don’t think too much, just do it.
The promo for Dancing has you and Julianne dancing together. How hard was that?
Our hosting duties are what’s most important. But in terms of getting prepared, actually in the spring, I started working with Emma Slater in the studio. She helped with the choreography of it, so she was kind of my person going, “Well, how about this move? How about that move? He knows these steps. Maybe this sequence.” And so, it really helped me be able to keep up with the amazing Julianne Hough.
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And the funny thing about Julianne is she does not know how to dance anything less than 100 percent, but sometimes it’s like a whirlwind coming at you, it’s like a pit bull on the hunt. It’s a lot of energy and she’s really, really good at it, so I had to really up my game and work hard to get myself in a position to be able to dance with her. But she’s also incredibly supportive. She’s been a pro, she’s won several times, so she also knew how to help me along on the stage.
It seems that winning Dancing with the Stars had a huge impact on your life?
I’ve said it before, Dancing with the Stars changed my life. It gave me my career back. I was fortunate enough after winning that I went up into the execs’ offices at ABC and they asked me: What do you want to do? There was a picture of Tom Bergeron at AFV on the wall and I said, “I want to do that.” And they said, “Really?
Why wouldn’t you want to do another sitcom?” I was like, “I spent so much time trying to get away from a character [Carlton] and now I’ve created a recognition of my own name and I would like to continue to use that as a launching pad.”
AFV gave me this new life that I can now control. We’re in my ninth season on AFV, I did six seasons of Fresh Prince. So, this has given me something that I’ve never had before. And I feel very fortunate and very lucky that I’ve made so many great friends over at Dancing and I get to continue working and loving what I do.
And doing these shows allows you time to play golf, right?
It’s less golf now that I’ve got two shows, but I’m a global ambassador for PGA Tour Champions and I do their commercials, and so it has definitely given me more time to be able to keep my golf game at a high level.
You’re an RVer. What do you love about it?
Most people don’t realize how beautiful this country really is. Of course, I believe that everyone should see other places and learn other cultures. My family is from Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean, so I understand the many different parts of this world, but I wanted my kids to truly know the beautiful, wonderful places in this country, and there’s no better way to get to those places and to experience those places in a true natural habitat than getting in an RV and driving to them.
Are you a strict dad or are you an easygoing dad and you let your wife do the discipline?
Oh no, I’m strict. My wife and I both can be strict. We play different roles at different times based on what is necessary. But no, I’m a bit hardcore. I’ve always said, “I’m not successful because I’m easy on things, I’m successful because I’m willing to put in the work.” I have discipline, I have an idea of what needs to get done and I will stop at nothing to get it done. So, there’s a lot of that in me. I have to teach my kids how to really lock in and put in the work.
A person said to me the other day, “Train hard to work easy,” and it’s a beautiful quote because if you do train hard, your work is easy.
