Willa Ford

Amanda Lee Williford, professionally known as Willa Ford, is an American interior decorator, singer, songwriter, television personality, film actress, dancer, and model. Born on January 22, 1981, she was raised in Ruskin, Florida. She began singing at age eight with the Tampa Bay Children's Choir and joined the Tampa-based performing arts group Entertainment Revue at age 11. She attended East Bay High School in Gibsonton, Florida.

Ford began performing professionally in 1999 under the name Mandah before signing with Lava Records and Atlantic Records. To avoid confusion with Mandy Moore, she adopted the stage name Willa Ford. In 2000, she performed as an opening act on the Backstreet Boys' Into the Millennium tour. She released her debut album, Willa Was Here, on July 17, 2001, which reached number 56 on the Billboard 200. The album produced the single "I Wanna Be Bad," featuring rapper Royce da 5'9", followed by the singles "Did Ya' Understand That" and "Ooh Ooh." Around this time, she served as a spokesperson for Pantene Pro-V's ProVoice campaign, hosted several MTV television programs including The Morning After and I Bet You Will, and co-wrote and recorded a duet with South Korean pop star Park Ji-yoon.

Following her debut album, Ford released the single "A Toast to Men" featuring Lady May in 2003, though her planned second album was not released. Over the following years, she pursued various entertainment endeavors, serving as the host for the first season of Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter in 2005 and competing on the third season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars in 2006 alongside partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy. She also hosted the third season of Pants-Off Dance-Off on Fuse TV and made appearances in print publications, including FHM and Playboy.

Ford's acting credits include roles in film and television projects. She appeared in the 2009 slasher film Friday the 13th, the direct-to-video release Universal Squadrons, and television series such as Raising Dad, The Glades, Magic City, and Leverage. She was also cast in films including Submerged, Any Day, The Nurse, and Checkmate. Outside of entertainment, she runs her own home interior design firm, WFord Interiors, and appeared on the E! reality show Flip It Like Disick in 2019.

After a long break from releasing music, Ford resumed her recording career. On October 17, 2025, she released the single "Burn Burn," followed by a cover of "O Holy Night." In early 2026, she released the singles "Love4Life" and "Carousel" leading up to the release of her second album, Amanda, on March 6. She later released two updated versions of her debut hit single: an orchestral version on April 26 and "Willa's version" on July 17 to mark the song's 25th anniversary.