The fitness industry’s only husband and wife power duo, Billy Blanks Jr. and Sharon Catherine are the First Family of Fitness! They have taught together since 2000 and are proud that Dance It Out is the only actual fitness based dance certification course! They are searching for the next generation of Group Exercise Instructors to take fitness to a new level. Billy and Sharon are also in the process of launching their own original family lifestyle and fitness show, “America’s Fit Party”!
the face for the new generation of fitness. He is a certified professional known for designing feel good fitness programs that make working out fun. After an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show with his wife and partner Sharon, their first program Cardioke created a worldwide media frenzy. Since then, Billy has been featured on ABC, NBC, CNN, MTV, VH1, FOX, So You Think You Can Dance, E!, Entertainment Tonight, Style Network , Ruby, Endemol UK, FUJI TV (Japan) and more. He made history on the hit TV show Shark Tank after turning down a deal proposed by billionaire Mark Cuban and millionaire branding genius Daymond John when the latter shark left the tank and talked Billy and Sharon into taking the deal. The result was their business Dance It Out (DIO) ® becoming the fastest growing fitness based dance program in America.
Self taught and working professionally from his youth, Billy gained much exposure and experience in the world of dance and entertainment. Icon Paula Abdul has been Billy’s friend and mentor since he was eleven years old. As a young teen he choreographed school musical productions and created after school dance groups to give youth a positive outlet to utilize their time. As Billy’s notoriety grew, he earned roles as a dancer in music videos with Paula, Madonna, Crystal Method (directed by Gore Verbinski), Quincy Jones, and Babyface. His credits also include TV appearances on the shows American Dreams with Alicia Keys, The Practice, Sister Sister with Tia and Tamera Mowry, kids Incorporated, Homeboys From Outer Space, My Cousin Skeeter, and The Tonight Show. Billy starred as Tyrone Jackson in the US touring company of the Broadway musical Fame and also toured throughout all of Europe. Billy went on to direct and choreograph the WeSparkle Take II celebrity concert for the WeSpark Cancer Support Center with Tom Hanks, Jason Alexander, Brian Cranston, Joey Lawrence, Britney Spears, Michael Chiklis, Hal Sparks, the cast of Will & Grace, and a total of 45 premier celebrities. He choreographed the end sequence for the movie I Hope You Dance.
Billy comes from a fitness family (his father is Tae Bo creator Billy Blanks) and has twenty plus years in the field. In 2012, with the success of DIO ® and because of their work with children and families, Billy and Sharon were dubbed America’s First Family of Fitness. That title was solidified after their appearance on the Dr. Oz Show where they debuted a few recipes from their book The Live It! Billy is also the co-author of All In! (Getting Your Family on the Same Healthy Page) and In Fitness and In Health (How to Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mate). Billy offers an uplifting, candid look at what it takes to really be a good father, husband, and a real man in his book Who’s Your Daddy? He is the proud daddy of his son Elijah.
Sharon Catherine Blanks
The fitness industry’s only husband and wife power duo, Billy Blanks Jr. and Sharon Catherine are the First Family of Fitness!
Sharon was born and raised in New York City and started acting at age three and a half. She is the daughter of June and Johnny Brown (aka Mr. Bookman from the hit 70’s series “Good Times”) proud mommy of Elijah and one half of the fitness industry’s only super duo.
Some of Sharon’s film credits include the role of Kim in A Chorus Line with Michael Douglas, Lila in For Keeps with Molly Ringwald, and Debra in Sister Act 2 with Whoopie Goldberg. She starred on Broadway as Effie in Dreamgirls and The Narrator in Joseph and the AmazingTechnicolor Dreamcoat. She also starred as Velma in Regina Taylor’s Crowns, the female lead in Smokey Joe’s Café for which she was nominated for an Ovation Award, the Seasons of Love soloist in the West Coast premiere of Rent with Neil Patrick Harris, Sarah in The Playground, Bogus Moran in One City, and she was the first African-American woman to star as Lucy in the Frank Wildhorn musical, Jekyll and Hyde.
TV roles include Etta Jones in HBO’s Introducing Dorothy Dandridge starting Halle Berry,
Angela, the snooty opera diva on A Different World, The Arsenio Hall Show and she is currently the host of the popular fashion/lifestyle web series The Love It Show. As a dancer she’s worked with such legends as Michael Peters, Jerry Mitchell, Michael Bennett, and Debbie Allen. As a singer she’s worked with Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner. She is featured in the end sequence of the soon to be released movie I Hope You Dance.
Sharon is a certified fitness instructor with fifteen years in the field. Having dual careers in show business and fitness is an easy fit for Sharon who along with husband and partner Billy Blanks Jr. has traveled the world merging their two passions into the dance fitness sensation known as Dance It Out ®.
Sharon and Billy were dubbed America’s First Family of Fitness and Dr. Oz called them the Fat Fighting couple when they appeared on his show and they shared some of their Live It! recipies. In addition, to The Live It!, Sharon is also the co-author of All In! (getting Your Family on the Same Healthy Page) and In Fitness and In Health (How to Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mate). Sharon also shares her insight and sharp sense of humor on what it’s like to be a wife, mother, and career woman at age fifty something (yeah, you read it right) in her book The F Word.
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