'Dancing with the Stars' judge Carrie Ann Inaba confirms new boyfriend and gushes about their "dream date"

Dancing with the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba has revealed she's got a new boyfriend and can envision being with him "forever."


During a Wednesday appearance on Live! with Kelly and Michael, Inaba confirmed rumors about a new love in her life.

"Yes! His name is Robb Derringer and we met recently. He's an actor, a soap-opera actor. But he's in a lot of things," Inaba told show hosts Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan.

Inaba then gushed about how Derringer planned the most thoughtful and romantic date she's ever been on in her life.

"We met and he took me on my dream date. You know when you're young and you have an idea of, like, what you want to do for your first date? Mine was always to have a late night, on the beach, wine and candles. And so, that's what he did!" Inaba said.


"He took me to Malibu, we went down in a go-cart. We were kind of, like, off in the forest. Then, we climbed down the side of a mountain, we got to the beach, and he laid out this beautiful [spread]. It was a dream! It's the date I've been waiting for my whole life! I'm 48-years-old and I finally had my dream date! My God!"

Inaba called her new man "really romantic" and also "really grounded."

"I can actually see spending the rest of my life with him, which is something, well, I've never said that," Inaba admitted with a big smile on her face.

"It's a whole different feeling. You look at him, and even though it's not perfect -- he's not a perfect person and I'm not perfect, far from perfect -- but when I look at him, I go, 'This is a good man. I can see this forever.' So, it's really exciting! I hope I didn't jinx it by saying that. Am I too early to say that?"

Inaba giggled off her nerves as Ripa and Strahan promised her that the admission won't put her relationship in jeopardy.


The longtime Dancing with the Stars judge then shared how she and Derringer are both animal lovers.

"I have three dogs and two cats, because I do a lot of rescue, and Rob has a raven," Inaba said, acknowledging with her facial expressions that having a pet raven is a bit odd.

"But no, he rescues animals too, and he rescues birds. He has this raven that had broken a wing, and he's had him for 10 years. His name is Lucy. It's very confusing for me because it's a 'he' but he's 'Lucy.' But he's a raven and he's bigger than all my animals!"

Inaba confessed she's "a little scared" for the raven to meet her cats.

"We're going to have to blend the animals," Inaba pointed out. "And I'm nervous because the raven is big and my animals are [tiny]. My Chihuahua is going to be eaten by the raven! I'm a little scared and hoping not!"


Inaba dated DWTS pro Artem Chigvintsev, who had also competed on So You Think You Can Dance, from 2006 to 2008.

Three years later, Inaba got engaged to Jesse Sloan, whom she had met on the online dating website eHarmony. She told Us Weekly in 2011 that she and Sloan would marry in the summer of that year, however, she announced in September 2012 they had amicably decided to end their engagement.

Inaba has served as a mainstay judge with Bruno Tonioli on Dancing with the Stars since the reality competition debuted on ABC back in 2005. Len Goodman has judged mostly all of the seasons, while Julianne Hough also sat on the panel for a few editions.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski