DWTS Season 6 Bios...

Adam Carolla

PROFESSION: Comedian and radio host

BACKGROUND:

Television and Radio personality Adam Carolla is the host of the Los Angeles based and nationally syndicated morning radio program, The Adam Carolla Show. The actor/comedian has his first starring film role soon to be released in The Hammer (in theaters March 21st), which he co-wrote and co-produced. Carolla was also one of the creators and hosts of Comedy Central's The Man Show (alongside Jimmy Kimmel) and the MTV and long-running syndicated radio program, Loveline, with Dr. Drew Pinsky.

PARTNER: Julianne Hough - Style: Latin

Julianne Hough is an American professional ballroom dancer, television celebrity and country music singer, whom the television newsmagazine 20/20 describes as one of the "very best dancers on the planet."[1] She has won several international titles, and is the youngest professional dancer ever to have competed on DWTS Julianne's first season on Dancing with the Stars was quite successful. Her and partner Olympic Gold Medalist Apolo Anton Ohno were the season 4 champions and won the DWTS championship in season 5 with Hélio Castroneves

Cristián de la Fuente

PROFESSION: International film star

BACKGROUND:

Having started his acting career in his native Chile, the international film and television star's Spanish language projects include: Univisión's mini series, Como ama una mujer and Sony television's Reyes y Rey which aired on Telemundo. He gained recognition in the States as a series regular on Family Law and CSI: Miami. Recent TV guest roles include: Ugly Betty and Psych. He stars in the upcoming USA Network series, In Plain Sight. Film work includes Driven and Basic. Cristián is a First Lieutenant in the Chilean Air Force Reserve and a member of Halcones, the High Aerobatics team. People Magazine named him one of their '50 Most Beautiful.' He was the first man ever to grace the cover of Cosmopolitan en Espanol.

PARTNER: Cheryl Burke - Style: Latin

At 4 years old, she began taking ballet lessons and performing locally. She first began ballroom dancing and decided to change her focus. She trained in both standard ballroom and latin dances. She began competing at age 13. Cheryl is a two-time winner of Dancing with the Stars. Cheryl and her partner singer Drew Lachey stole the show on Season 2 and sensationally won the competition. Season 3, Cheryl was partnered with football legend Emmitt Smith, and together they won the competition. Season 4, Cheryl made it to the semi-finals with actor Ian Ziering, placing fourth. And season 5 she partnered with Wayne Newton.

Shannon Elizabeth

PROFESSION: Film and television star

BACKGROUND:

Actress/model Shannon Elizabeth starred in the box office hits, American Pie and Scary Movie. Some of her other credits include Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Love Actually, Cuts and That 70s Show. Shannon is also an accomplished poker player taking third out of sixty-four invited professionals at the 2007 National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

PARTNER: Derek Hough - Style: Latin

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Derek has been dancing since he was 11 years old. He moved to London at the young age of 12 with his sister, Julianne, to live and train with his dance coaches, Shirley and Corky Ballas. While living in their house, he became best friends with their son, Mark Ballas, with whom he also started a band. Hough is a former World under-21 Latin American Dance Champion. He has won the LA Outstanding Dancer of the Year and the New York Dance Alliance Outstanding Dance awards Partnered with Jennie Garth in season 5 and finished in 4th place.

Steve Guttenberg

PROFESSION: Movie star

BACKGROUND:

Actor Steve Guttenberg has starred in blockbusters such as Police Academy, Three Men And A Baby, Short Circuit and Cocoon, as well as such acclaimed dramatic hits as Diner and The Boys From Brazil. Guttenberg has starred in a dozen films, each of which earned in excess of $100,000,000 at the American box office. His television credits include one of the highest-rated telefilms of all time, The Day After. Guttenberg runs The Guttenhouse Project, which houses selected children who are phased out of foster care programs.

PARTNER: Anna Trebunskaya - Style: Latin

Mario

PROFESSION: R&B star

BACKGROUND:

Twenty-one year-old, multi-platinum selling R&B/Pop singer and actor Mario is known for such hit singles as "Just a Friend (2002)" and "Let Me Love You." He was the recipient of Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Single of the Year in 2005 for "Let Me Love You," and has been nominated for a Grammy, BET Award, Vibe Award, MOBO Award and Soul Train Music Award. His latest album, Go, is in stores now. Mario has also appeared in the feature films Step Up and Freedom Writers and his single Crying Out For Me is currently #5 on the Billboard R&B chart.

PARTNER: Karina Smirnoff - Style: Latin

Marlee Matlin

PROFESSION: Academy Award winning actress

BACKGROUND:

Marlee Matlin received worldwide critical acclaim for her film debut in Children of a Lesser God, for which she received the Academy Award for Best Actress. At 21, she became the youngest recipient of the Best Actress Oscar and only one of four actresses to receive the honor for her film debut. In addition to the Oscar, Marlee received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama. She has since appeared on a number of hit television programs including The West Wing, The L-Word, Nip/Tuck, and Desperate Housewives. In Spring 2008, she will star opposite Jeff Daniels in the telefilm, Sweet Nothing In My Ear.

PARTNER: Fabian Sanchez - Style:American Rhythm, Smooth, Standard, Latin, and Rhythm

Dancing came naturally to Fabian because of his culture. There was nothing but salsa and meringue music played in his house every day while his mom cleaned. What started out as just a fun summer job has turned into a remarkable career for Fabian Sanchez. It all started when Fred Astaire Area Developer Al King walked into a Ryan's Steakhouse in Birmingham, Alabama where Fabian was working. Quickly warming to Fabian's lively and dynamic personality, King asked him to apply to the Fred Astaire training program. Although Fabian had wanted to go to college with hopes of eventually turning pro in soccer, he agreed to work at Fred Astaire, thinking it would be a temporary job. The chance meeting at Ryan's was the start of Fabian's career. Throughout the years, Fabian became a seasoned competitor, achieving such accomplishments as US Rising Star Champion, four time Fred Astaire National Champion, US Open American Rhythm Finalist, and 3rd in the World Mambo Championship. This is Fabian's first season on Dancing with the Stars

Penn Jillette

PROFESSION: Magician

BACKGROUND:

Penn Jillette is one-half of the famous illusionist team Penn & Teller. Penn & Teller have been performing together for thirty years and are currently headlining in their own theater at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. They've received eleven Emmy nominations for their television series, Penn & Teller: Bulls**t and created several TV projects together. The duo has also written three best-selling books. In 2005, Penn produced and co-created the critically acclaimed documentary, The Aristocrats.

PARTNER: Kym Johnson - Style: Latin and Ballroom

Kym is an Australian former professional ballroom dancer, model, and television celebrity. She lives in Sydney, Australia but is currently based in America for DWTS. Johnson began dancing at the age of two. She began ballroom dancing at 15 years old.[1] In 1998, she and her partner, Lithuanian Tomas Atkocevicius placed second at the Australian Dancesport Championships in the Open Amateur Modern Ballroom.[2]They also were finalists as the U.K. Ballroom Championships at Blackpool. Kym partnered with talk show host Jerry Springer during Season 3, where they finished the competition in 5th place. In Season 4 she was partnered with member of N'Sync Joey Fatoneand finished in second place. Billionare Mark Cuban was her Season 5 Partner; they were voted off in the fifth week.

Priscilla Presley

PROFESSION: Actress, producer and entrepreneur

BACKGROUND:

Actress, producer and entrepreneur Priscilla Presley starred in the Naked Gun films and the internationally popular television series Dallas, as well as guest-starred on TV's Touched by an Angel, Spin City and Melrose Place. Founder of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Priscilla has also served as executive producer on the feature film Finding Graceland and the television version of her autobiography, Elvis and Me. Presley was married to music icon, Elvis Presley.

PARTNER: Louis Van Amstel - Style: Latin

Louis began his dance career at an early age, training in a theatre school gaining a solid background in ballet, tap, and jazz. Upon graduating, Louis attended the University of the Arts in Amsterdam to further strengthen his skills in the classical dances and theory. He is a 7-time Dutch and 3-time world champion ballroom dancer. Louis was paired with Trista Sutter for the first season. They were the first couple to be eliminated from the competition. Partnering with actress Lisa Rinna in the season 2 they came in 4th place. He was partnered with actress Monique Coleman for season 3 and placed in fourth again. He stated that he did not compete on the fourth season becasue all of the female celebrities were taller than him, but still maintained a choreographer and performance role throughout the season and season 5 as well.

Monica Seles

PROFESSION: Grand Slam tennis champion

BACKGROUND:

Tennis champ, Monica Seles, is the holder of nine grand slam singles titles and was the top-ranked player in the world. She turned pro in 1988 at the age of fourteen and won her first grand slam championship, the French Open, just two years later. After a two-year absence from the tour in 1993 and 1994, Seles rose above adversity and returned to capture her final grand slam crown in 1996 winning the Australian Open. She holds an outstanding career win loss singles record of 595-122 and was ranked the13th greatest player of all time by Tennis Magazine. Her accomplishments also extend beyond the tennis court as Goodwill Ambassador for the Laures Sports Foundation and the Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Microalgae Spirulina Against Malnutrition (IIMSAM).

PARTNER: Jonathan Roberts - Style: Latin

During Season 1, Jonathan partnered supermodel Rachel Hunter into 4th place. Season 2, Jonathan and his partner journalist Giselle Fernandez, finished in 8th place. He partnered charity campaigner Heather Mills into 7th place during Season 4. in season 5, he partnered with Marie Osmond and finished 3rd. Jonathan started dancing 11 years ago, at the age of 20. He is one of the few competitors representing America who was actually born in the United States. He decided to take up dancing after he received a free trial at a local dance studio and enjoyed it. He currently resides in California with his wife and former dance partner, Anna Trebunskaya

Jason Taylor

PROFESSION: NFL Man of the Year

BACKGROUND:

This year's NFL Man of the Year Award Winner and last year's NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Taylor has played defensive end for the Miami Dolphins for over a decade. The six-time All Pro formed the Jason Taylor Foundation in 2004 and continues to be heavily involved throughout the South Florida community. Taylor holds the NFL record for touchdowns by a defensive lineman (7) and is the Dolphins all-time leader in quarterback sacks (117) and consecutive games played (130). Jason is married to Katina, and the couple reside in Weston, Fla., with their two sons, Isaiah Paul and Mason Paul, and daughter, Zoe Grace.

PARTNER: Edyta Sliwinska - Style: Latin

Edyta partnered boxing champion Evander Holyfield in Season 1 when they came in 5th place. In Season 2 she and George Hamilton also came in 5th. During Season 3, she partnered actor Joey Lawrence and they came in 3rd place. Season 4, Edyta partnered actor John Ratzenberger into 6th place. And in season 5 she partnered with soap star Cameron Mathison and came in 5th place for the thrid time. She is the only professional dancer to appear in all five seasons of Dancing with the Stars.

Marissa Jaret Winokur

PROFESSION: Tony Award winning Broadway star

BACKGROUND:

Marissa Jaret Winokur is best known for creating the role of "Tracy Turnblad" in the hit Broadway musical Hairspray, a performance for which she won a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress. Winokur has since been seen in the Farrelly Brothers film Fever Pitch and the television series Stacked. She just finished filming the series lead in a new pilot called Fugly, for 20th Century Fox and CBS and is currently working as one of the leads in the Lifetime movie Betrayals.

PARTNER: Tony Dovolani - Style: Latin

Tony is a professional ballroom dancer based in New York City. Dovolani, who is Albanian, began folk dancing at age three. When he was 15, his entire family moved to the United States and Dovolani got the opportunity to attend classes at a Fred Astaire Dance Academy. From that moment on, he knew he had found his passion. Tony partnered the WWE wrestler Stacey Keibler in Season 2. The couple came in third place. In Season 3, Tony's partner was country singer Sara Evans. The couple had to withdraw in the middle of the competition for personal reasons. In Season 4, Tony partnered Leeza Gibbons into 9th place. and in season 5 partnered with Jane Seymour finishing in 6th place.

Kristi Yamaguchi

PROFESSION: Olympic champion figure skater

BACKGROUND:

An Olympic Gold medalist and World Champion, Kristi Yamaguchi is one of the most popular and successful figure skaters of our time. Since winning the 1992 Winter Olympics, Yamaguchi retired from competitive skating, performing in numerous television specials and traveling the globe on Stars on Ice tour. Along with her many awards and accomplishments, she is a member of the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame, World Figure Skating Hall of Fame and the US Olympic Hall of Fame. In 1996, she founded the Always Dream Foundation dedicated to fundraising and supporting children's charities. Yamaguchi is married to Stanley Cup Champion and Carolina Hurricanes star, Bret Hedican. Together, they have two young daughters.

PARTNER: Mark Ballas - Style: Latin

At the age of 4, he was enrolled at the Italia Conti Academy of Dramatic Arts Associate School, where he was trained in singing, dancing, and acting. When he was 10, he became British Juvenile Ballroom and Latin American Dance Champion. At the age of 11, he earned a full time slot at the Academy, as well as earning a full scholarship to the college. In 2005, he was awarded "Performer of the Year". He then moved on to win championships at The British Open to the World, The US Open to the World, and The International Open to the World. With his former partner Julianne Hough, he won the Junior Latin American Dance Championship and the gold medal at the Junior Olympics. Partnered with Sabrina Bryan in season 5 and finished 7th after a surprising low fan vote.