Corbin Bleu to Host New Season of truTV's FAKE OFF; Glee's Harry Shum Jr. to Judge

By: Mar. 10, 2015
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Actor and dancer Corbin Bleu (High School Musical) is set to host the second season of truTV's hit series Fake Off. The series produced by Endemol Shine NORTH AMERICA features ten teams from around the country competing in the captivating art of Faking. Harry Shum Jr. (Glee, The LXD) returns to the judging panel, and is joined by two new judges: actress, choreographer and Emmy®-nominated director Laurieann Gibson (Lady Gaga Presents: The Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden, Making the Band) and dancer-choreographer Beau Casper Smart (So You Think You Can Dance, Step Up: 3D). Meghan Camarena better known as Youtube sensation Strawburry17 will serve as backstage correspondent, a new role created this season.

Season two of FAKE OFF is slated to premiere on truTV spring 2015.

An elimination competition series that stands out from the rest, truTV's FAKE OFF takes viewers into the visually stunning world of Faking-a mix of theater, acrobatics, black light and illusion. In each episode, teams are challenged to reimagine iconic moments in pop culture to see who's got the skills to be named America's FAKE OFF Champions and walk away with a $100,000 cash prize. In the first season, teams performed brilliant interpretations of moments in pop culture inspired by action-adventure and fantasy movies, video games and the biggest global sporting events.

Fake Off premiered on truTV in November 2014 in conjunction with the launch of truTV's "Way More Fun" brand image. The series earned high praise from television critics and viewers alike, prompting weekly audience growth after its premiere. The second season will consist of eight episodes, climaxing with the big finale in which one team will be named the FAKE OFF Champion and earn the cash prize.

Fake Off is produced by Endemol Shine North America, with Eden Gaha, James Sunderland, Robin Feinberg and Chris Culvenor serving as executive producers.

Corbin Bleu has achieved a remarkable level of success as an actor, recording artist, and producer and continues to evolve with each new project. Bleu is best known from his starring role as 'Chad Danforth' in all 3 of the Emmy-award winning Disney High School Musical franchise movies alongside Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale. In 2013, Bleu partnered with Karina Smirnoff on the multi-Emmy award winning ABC hit competition dance show Dancing with the Stars, placing in a close second. Bleu also recently wrapped a campaign on the crowdsourcing site, Indiegogo.com, for his anti-bullying passion project The Day I Died. Returning to his love of the theater, Bleu starred on Broadway as 'Jesus' in the revival of the musical Godspell. This was his second leading role on Broadway following his rave-reviewed performance as 'Usnavi' in the critically acclaimed musical, In the Heights. Bleu will also soon star opposite Kat Dennings in To Write Love on Her Arms, a film that follows the character of 19 year old Renee Yohe in her journey to recovery from addiction, depression, and self-injury.

Harry Shum Jr. is well known for his starring role on the hit series Glee. Next up, Harry will be seen as "Wie Fang" in the feature Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2 releasing August 28th simultaneously on Netflix and in theaters. In addition, he has starred in the independent features Revenge of the Green Dragons, White Frog, and Moms' Night Out. His other film credits include Fast & Furious 3: Tokyo Drift, Stomp the Yard, You Got Served and Center Stage 2. Shum recently starred in the Hulu/Geek&Sundry web series Caper and has appeared on such shows as Boston Public, Zoey 101 and Greek. As a dancer, Shum has worked with such world-renowned artists as Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Chris Brown, and Jennifer Lopez to name a few. He was also one of the original silhouettes used to advertise Apple iPods. Working with director-choreographer Jon M. Chu, he is star and associate producer/co-choreographer of The LXD (League of Extraordinary Dancers). In addition to his acting and dancing, Shum has also shared his story at events for "Catalyst Creative" to inspire youth in the arts. Shum is represented by Innovative Artists, Triniti Management, and Stone Meyer.

Laurieann Gibson is an accomplished creative visionary, choreographer, artist and Emmy-nominated director who earned her stripes at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and rose to stardom as a "Fly Girl" on the series "In Living Color" and later starred on MTV's pop-culture phenom, Making the Band. Over her storied career, Gibson has also parlayed her skills into more business-focused roles as the Director of Choreography for Bad Boy Records and the Creative Director at Interscope Records. She has worked with some of the biggest names in entertainment, including Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Diddy, Big Bang and Nicki Minaj to name a few. Gibson earned her Emmy nomination for directing the HBO Special Lady Gaga Presents: The Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden. Additionally, she has choreographed several feature films including Beyond the Lights and Honey, the latter in which she also appeared.

Beau Casper Smart is an actor, creative director and choreographer, who began his career as a professional dancer known for his explosive, high-energy dance skills, which had him sharing the stage with multi-platinum, multiple award-winning artists such as Pink, Toni Braxton, Nicki Minaj, J-Lo, Beyoncé and more. With a quick ascent from dancing, major talent such as Beyoncé and Eminem, TV productions including SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE and The X-Factor and corporate brands like Reebok and McDonalds, were soon clamoring for Smart's stand-out choreography services. Smart's early credits include dance roles on Glee, How I Met Your Mother, American Idol, Grammy's and combined acting roles in Disney's Step Up: 3D, Honey 2, Dance Flick and Rio. Smart completed lead and/or supporting roles in 6 acting projects in 2014 including three feature films as well as substantial roles on USA's Benched and NBC's The Big Bang Theory. Simultaneously in 2014, Smart provided creative direction and choreography to an array of groundbreaking artists including Nick Jonas, Nicki Minaj, Jessie J, Wisin y Yandel and more. Smart's ingenious creative direction and bold choreography lauded him as to go-to-guy for the opening number of the 2014 MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS just after providing both creative direction and choreography to Grammy-nominated Nicki Minaj's Anaconda video.

With over 80 million views and an audience of over 875,000 subscribers, Meghan Camarena hosts and produces a variety of video formats on her Youtube channel "Strawburry17" and uploads day-in-the-life videos on her second channel "Lifeburry". She also starred in the 22nd and 24th seasons of the hit CBS show, THE AMAZING RACE and as Rapwnzel in the web series, Video Game High School.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos


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