Karina Smirnoff

Karina Smirnoff, born Karina Smyrnova on January 2, 1978, is a Ukrainian-born professional ballroom dancer. She is widely known for her appearances as a professional dancer on the television competition series Dancing with the Stars, where she won the thirteenth season alongside army veteran and actor J. R. Martinez. Over the course of her dancing career, Smirnoff has earned numerous national and international ballroom dancing titles and honors.

Smirnoff was born in Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, and is of half-Greek and half-Russian Jewish descent. She began competing in ballroom dancing at eleven years old and chose to pursue the discipline. In 1993, she immigrated to the United States. She attended several schools, including Nerinx Hall High School in St. Louis and Christopher Columbus High School in The Bronx, before graduating from the Bronx High School of Science. She later graduated from Fordham University in New York City with a double major in economics and information system programming.

Early in her competitive career, Smirnoff represented the United States as an amateur with Roman Nabatov until January 1997. She later danced professionally with Paul Killick, Louis Van Amstel, and Slavik Kryklyvyy, earning top titles and high ratings with Kryklyvyy between 2001 and 2005. Her final recorded competition partner was Dmitri Timokhin, with whom she won the 2006 Grand-Prix Dynamo in Moscow. Smirnoff's achievements include being a five-time U.S. National Champion, World Trophy Champion, UK Open titleholder, three-time US Open Champion, two-time Asian Open Champion, and five-time Dutch Open Champion. She placed second at the British Open Blackpool Dance Festival and became the only woman to reach the British Professional Final with four different partners between 1999 and 2006.

In addition to competitive dancing, Smirnoff has worked in film, television, and event production. She appeared as a dance instructor and partner to Stanley Tucci in the 2004 film Shall We Dance? and released a fitness DVD titled Shape Up With Karina Smirnoff. Her television appearances include a guest role as Madame Escajeda on Hannah Montana and joining the second season cast of the E! reality series Famously Single. She also served as project manager and director for the Day & Night dancing event in Hollywood in 2006, and was featured in a nude pictorial for Playboy magazine in May 2011.

Smirnoff debuted on Dancing with the Stars during its third season, placing second with partner Mario Lopez. In subsequent seasons, her partners included Billy Ray Cyrus, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Mario, Rocco DiSpirito, Steve Wozniak, Aaron Carter, Mike Sorrentino, and Ralph Macchio. Following her season thirteen victory with Martinez, she competed with Gavin DeGraw, Apolo Anton Ohno, Jacoby Jones, Corbin Bleu, Sean Avery, Randy Couture, Victor Espinoza, and Doug Flutie, securing second place with Bleu and third with Jones. In October 2023, Smirnoff returned to the show during season 32 to perform in a special group waltz tribute honoring the late judge Len Goodman.