Alfonso Ribeiro Showed Off His Dancing Chops In A Pink Suit, And His Fresh Prince Pal Will Smith Even Knows It Was Fire

Alfonso Ribeiro may have come to fame decades ago on TV shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but these days he’s likely known more for his dancing. Of course we’re all aware of the Carlton Dance, but Ribeiro proved he was more than his nerdy character when he won Season 19 of Dancing with the Stars and went on to become the competition’s co-host. He got to show off those moves recently, donning a pink suit for a moment that even got Will Smith’s attention.

There’s been no official word on when DWTS Season 34 will hit the 2025 TV schedule, but Alfonso Ribeiro had no intention of waiting to bust a move when he visited The Jennifer Hudson Show. Take a look at his walk to the stage:

Now, if you are unfamiliar with Jennifer Hudson’s spirit tunnels — where her crew lines the hallway outside of the guests’ dressing room, chanting, singing and dancing to pump them up as they take the stage — I implore you to stop now and go down that rabbit hole. It’s not an exaggeration to say I’ve lost hours watching videos.

Alfonso Ribeiro certainly looked to be embracing the “happy place,” as he hit them with some footwork, strutting down the hall with a big smile as he ultimately did a spin move that earned cheers from the hype team.

The viral video also earned props from his former TV cousin, Will Smith, who showed up in the comments to say:

I love this support from Will Smith three decades after the two actors starred together on one of the best TV sitcoms of all time, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. There’s no doubt in my mind that the Men in Black actor knows all about Alfonso Ribeiro’s talents, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who recalls that Ribeiro was a child actor with a big personality whose career actually started on Broadway in 1983 when he played the titular character in The Tap Dance Kid.

Will Smith, of course, has been known to “get jiggy wit it” himself, and this isn’t the first time he’s shouted out “Alf.” A couple of years ago Alfonso Ribeiro reunited with his Dancing with the Stars partner, Witney Carson, for a viral dance to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song, prompting Smith to comment:

I think my favorite part about The Jennifer Hudson Show video, though, is that Alfonso Ribeiro didn’t feel pressured to do the Carlon Dance, even though he knows he’ll break the Internet (like he did on DWTS) if he does do it. Ribeiro has opened up about strangers constantly asking him to do the dance for them, which must be so exhausting. I love that he got the chance to show some different moves in the spirit tunnel.

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If you want to relive Will Smith and Alfonso Ribeiro’s olden days, there are plenty of Carlton-centric episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air that are available to stream with a Max subscription.