Tanika Ray Biography

Tanika Ray (born January 25, 1972) is an American television personality and actress. She was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Los Angeles, California. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater Arts from Spelman College in Atlanta and studied theater at New York University.

Ray began her career as a professional dancer with various artists such as Will Smith, the Backstreet Boys, Brandy Norwood and late singer Aaliyah. She then ventured into acting, guest starring in shows like The Wayans Bros., Living Single, NYPD Blue and Family Matters She also appeared on music oriented shows such as Soul Train, Motown Live and the short-lived late night talk show based on Vibe.

She appeared as a Motion capture character, providing the voice and body movements of "Cyber Lucy", the computer animated hostess for the children's version of Wheel of Fortune, Wheel of Fortune 2000. During this period she was also the official voice of CBS Saturday Mornings.

From there Ray was off and running, hosting various TV shows like Robotica co-hosted by Ahmet Zappa for TLC and Lifetime Now with Linda Dano for Lifetime TV. After multiple seasons of Lifetime Now, Ray hosted another show on Lifetime called Head2Toe, a makeover show that inspired women and a couple men to be the very best them they could be through makeup, hair, wardrobe and, most important, self-esteem transformations.

In 2004, Ray became New York correspondent for the entertainment magazine show Extra (TV series). After two years she was promoted to the host of its weekend edition Extra's Weekend Show and relocated to Los Angeles. In 2009 she left Extra. Ray next hosted TBS Weekend Extra on TBS and CWNOW on the CW.

Ray left Extra in August 2009 to expand her entertainment scope. She has recently hosted For the Love of Ray J. 2 Reunion Special for VH1, a one-hour special on the movie Precious for TV Guide Network and TV Guide's Oscar Pre-Show On the Red Carpet and a one-hour special on Sex and the City 2.

She also frequently appears as a guest panelist on Showbiz Tonight on HLN (TV channel) and programs on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel.

She was announced as host for Design Star 7, but instead David Bromstad appears as host and mentor.

Television

• Wheel of Fortune 2000 (1997"1998) as Cyber Lucy, the Hostess
• Soap Center (2000"2004)
• Robotica (2001)
• Speaking of Women's Health (2001"present)
• Head 2 Toe (2003"2005)
• Extra (2004"2009)
• TBS Weekend Extra (2005"present)
• Seacrest @ Night Pilot
• Soap News Update
• CW Now (2007"2008)
• HSN Trendsetter (2008"present) Host
• HGTV'D (2011"present) Host
• HGTV Design Star (2011) Host
• Oh Sit ( 2012-Present) Co-Host

Guest starring

• Living Single (1996)
• Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1996)
• Friends (TV series) (1997) (Un-credited role)
• The Wayans Bros. (1998)
• Family Matters (1998)
• Hyperion Bay (1999)
• All My Children (2006)