Billy Blanks Jr.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationFitness personality
Years active2007–present
Notable workDance It Out
SpouseSharon Brown (div.)
Children1
Parent

Billy Blanks Jr. is an American fitness personality. He is the son of martial artist and Tae Bo creator, Billy Blanks. He is best known for his appearance on Shark Tank where he was able to get an investment in his fitness media which resulted in the worldwide Dance It Out fitness class program and franchise.

Early life

Blanks was born to Billy and Gayle Blanks. He grew up in the Boston area. At age 9, he was cast in a production of The Little Rascals. In an interview with ACT: Dance Model Sing magazine, he said that he was told he was too young to be in a production for 42nd Street, but could help out the crew, but when the director saw him imitating some tap choreography, he was cast in the show. Blanks Sr. moved to Los Angeles when he got a job as a bodyguard for actress Catherine Bach, and the family followed soon after.[1]

Blanks and his sister helped teach classes at Blanks Sr.'s Tae Bo studio. After Paula Abdul took Tae Bo classes there, she discovered he had an interest in dance, so she helped him develop his skills as a dancer and choreographer.[1][2] He attended Reseda High School and graduated from Hollywood High School.[1][3] At age 18, he landed a role as Tyrone in the Fame musical's European tour and the U.S. tour in 1999.[4][1] He continued to do work with Abdul, and starred in various commercials, videos, and stage productions.[1]

Career

In 2007, Blanks created "Cardioke", a cardio dance workout that featured karaoke singing. This garnered the attention of ABC News.[1] Cardioke was promoted on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.[5] On December 10, 2017, his former manager Anthony Riccio filed a lawsuit against him for contractual fraud, claiming they came up with the concept of mixing cardio and karaoke together and that he coined the term "cardioke", whereas Blanks wanted to call it "Karaokecise", and should have shared more revenue and rights over the brand.[6] Blanks also said that his father was not supportive of his dance fitness concept.[1][2]

The popularity of Cardioke led Blanks to offers to produce DVDs.[1] Blanks and his wife developed a series of DVDs in including Cardio Fit (2010), Groove and Burn (2010),[7][8] Fat Burning Hip Hop Mix (2011)[9][10] and Dance Party Boot Camp (2012). However, they were not making much money, so Blanks had to take on a part-time job at a restaurant.[1] Blanks and his family lived in meager (he says "homeless")[11][2] conditions, including having to move to a low-budget motel in Sherman Oaks, where they would sneak out from there to teach classes at 24 Hour Fitness under the program name Dance With Me.[3] They moved to Woodland Hills.[3]

In 2012, Blanks and his wife appeared on Shark Tank.[12] Sharks Daymond John and Mark Cuban offered Blanks and his wife a deal to join Zumba. Concerned that his work would be lost to the competing franchise, Blanks declined the offer in front of the Sharks, but on his way to record the post-show interview, John followed him to the holding room, explained how the branding would work, and persuaded Blanks to accept the deal,[13][11] which involved $100,000 and 50% stake in the company.[4] During the months between the filming of the episode and its eventual airing, he had lost his opportunity to teach at 24-Hour Fitness, and opened Blanks Studios "down the street".[1] They also had to get approval from Blanks Sr to use his name in the brand, which Blanks Sr. agreed.[4]

This led to the eventual launch of the Dance It Out program.[14] In 2013, he had some recurring segments as a fitness personality on The Dr. Oz Show[15][16] They conducted Dance It Out classes at Blanks Studios, and have taken the program nationally and internationally with over a thousand certified instructors.[1][17] and conducted special live sessions for employees at Whirlpool Corporation in Michigan.[18][19]

In 2017, Blanks moved to Greenwich, Connecticut where he opened his dance and fitness studio at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio, and served as the artistic director for the Wall Street Theater in Norwalk.[13][20] Blanks also served as a judge for the Dancing Stars of Greenwich charity event in 2018.[21]

In 2020, Blanks worked with Lifetime to produce Dance It Out as a "moving fitness talk show".[14][22] The show features interviews with people followed by dance segments where Blanks Jr. invites everyone to participate. He wanted to get people moving when they were stuck in their homes during COVID-19 quarantine.[22][23] In 2021, he launched an app with Touchpoint Group Holdings, Inc. that allows subscribers to live-stream classes hosted by Blanks and other instructors from home.[24] In addition to his current work with Dance It Out, Blanks is a creative director of the Talent Recap website and hosts their related show which covers television talent shows.[2]

Personal life

Blanks married actress Sharon Brown.[25] They taught dance and fitness classes together, and she was part of Blanks's Dance With Me videos and the Dance It Out classes. They have an adopted son, Elijah.[3] They divorced in 2016.[26][1]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes Refs
1994 Sister, Sister Bellboy Ep. "The Birthday"
1996 Sister, Sister Jason Ep. "Reality Really Bites"
2012 Shark Tank Himself Ep. "Episode 314" [2]
2020 Dance It Out Host Lifetime Channel [22]

Videos

  • Dance with Me Cardio Fit (Lionsgate, 2010)
  • Dance with Me Groove & Burn (Lionsgate, 2010)
  • Fat Burning Hip Hop Mix (Lionsgate, 2011)
  • Dance Party Boot Camp (Lionsgate, 2012)

Other media

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Blanks Jr., Billy (December 2016). "Billy Blanks, Jr. – Nothing Can Stop Him In His Real-Life Pursuit of Happiness". ACT Dance Model Sing magazine (Interview). No. 30. Interviewed by Sykes, Meeka. Retrieved July 30, 2021 – via Magzter.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "How Billy Blanks Jr. Went From 'Homeless' To Fitness Guru — With The Help Of 'Shark Tank' And Mentor Paula Abdul". OK!. June 26, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Painter, Jill (January 26, 2011). "Fitness guru's son, Billy Blanks Jr., and his wife journey from the edge of homelessness to success". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Stiefel, Steven (May–June 2018). "Family Fitness". Ventura Blvd. pp. 36–39. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  5. ↑ "The Ellen DeGeneres Show Season 4 Episodes". TV Guide. Episode 107. Thu, Feb 15, 2007 60 mins Forest Whitaker. Also: Ellen gets a lesson in "Cardioke" from singer-choreographer Billy Blanks Jr.
  6. ↑ "Manager to Billy's Son: You're Firing Blank$". TMZ. December 10, 2007. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  7. ↑ Flores, Angelique (July 27, 2010). "Billy Blanks Jr. Releases First DVD". Home Media Magazine. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  8. ↑ Castagna, Cary (September 26, 2010). "Dancing your way to Keeping Fit". 24 Hours. Ontario, Canada: Sun Media Corporation. Archived from the original on July 22, 2013. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
  9. ↑ Cuneo, Kevin (January 12, 2012). "Fitness runs in the family for Blanks". Erie Times-News. Erie, Pennsylvania, USA. Archived from the original on May 15, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
  10. ↑ Ortega, Courtney (December 16, 2011). "Reviews: 'Fat Burning Hip Hop Mix' and 'Dance Off the Inches' workout DVDs". Star-Telegram. Texas. Archived from the original on November 15, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
  11. 1 2 Lockridge, Roger (September 25, 2018). "Billy Blanks Jr. Dances His Way To The Top Fitness". Bodybuilding.com.
  12. ↑ Debolt, Andy (December 5, 2016). "Billy Blanks Jr Dance With Me - After Shark Tank Update". Gazette Review. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  13. 1 2 Bennett, Macaela J. (March 25, 2017). "Billy Blanks Jr.: From Shark Tank to southwestern Connecticut". Associated Press. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  14. 1 2 "Billy Blanks Jr.'s Dance It Out Is A Moving Fitness Talk Show Coming To Lifetime • DanceLand". DanceLand. January 30, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  15. ↑ Web Exclusive: The Blanks' Workout. The Dr. Oz Show. April 25, 2013. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  16. ↑ "The Blanks' 21-Day Summer Slimdown Plan, Pt 1". The Dr. Oz Show. April 26, 2013.
  17. ↑ Blanks Jr., Billy (July 8, 2014). "'Dance It Out' gets many on their feet in Sherman Oaks". ABC7 Los Angeles (online video (broadcast news segment)). Interviewed by Corin, Lori.
  18. ↑ Jones, Al (May 16, 2013). "Dance fitness instructors Billy and Sharon Blanks helped Whirlpool employees celebrate National Employee Health & Fitness Day". Mlive.com.
  19. ↑ Jones, Al (August 23, 2013). "Whirlpool offers second round of Dance It Out health events, featuring Billy Blanks Jr". Mlive.com.
  20. ↑ Lee-Murphy, Michael (September 21, 2017). "Norwalk's Newly Reopened Wall Street Theater Offers Diverse Entertainment". Connecticut Magazine.
  21. ↑ "Dancing Stars of Greenwich Charity Dance Competition Raises $45,000 for Abilis". Greenwich Free Press. October 19, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  22. 1 2 3 Blanks Jr., Billy (April 20, 2020). "Dance It Out: Staying active at home with fitness expert Billy Blanks Jr". Here and Now (online video (broadcast segment)). Interviewed by Bookman, Sandra. WABC-TV. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  23. ↑ Kavanagh, Linda (July 15, 2021). "10th Annual Health Wellness & Lifestyle Expo 2021 with special thanks to Stamford Health, Exclusive Healthcare Partner". Westfair Communications (Press release). Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  24. 1 2 "Buzzzz-o-Meter: Stars Are Buzzing About This Sparkling Water". Us Weekly. June 27, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  25. ↑ Cross, Kathleen (August 18, 2011). "Meet the Blanks: America's Beautiful Black Fitness Power Couple". Rolling Out. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  26. ↑ Dickey, Jack (July 5, 2016). "Where Are They Now: Tae Bo creator Billy Blanks". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  27. ↑ "The Crystal Method: Born Too Slow (Vídeo musical) (2003)" – via FilmAffinity.
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