Samantha Harris Gets Candid About Cancer Battle, Her Time on ‘DWTS’ & What She Thinks of Show Now

Scott Fishman February 4, 2025, 1:22 pm

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Samantha Harris at the Premiere Of Netflix's — JC Olivera/FilmMagic

Former Dancing With the Stars cohost Samantha Harris is teaming up with Jennie Garth for a star-studded event at the iHeartTheater in LA on February 8. Harris will serve as MC and a featured panelist at “I Choose Me, Los Angeles,” an event promoting self-care and self-love. Guests include Naomi Watts, Yvette Nicole Brown, Sasha Pieterse, Jackie Tohn, Jenn Tran, and more. They’ll join experts in varying fields for panels, motivational talks and interactive sessions that bring women’s empowerment and positive connections to the forefront.

It’s all being headed by actress Garth, who has parlayed the success of her iHeartPodcast “I Choose Me.” The event was originally set for last month but had to be rearranged because of the California wildfires.

Harris, who hosts the podcast “Your Healthiest Healthy,” became pals with Garth when the Beverly Hills 90210 star competed in Season 5 of DWTS alongside Derek Hough.

Here, Harris, who has two teenage daughters with husband Michael Hess, opens up about receiving her second breast cancer diagnosis last summer. Plus, she addresses her time in the DWTS ballroom, her TV journalism career and more.

What do you think of this “I Choose Me, Los Angeles” lineup? What brought you on board?

Jennie and the team have lined up some incredible women who have resonated with so many and have such large followings where their voice could be heard far and wide. I think it’s really important they have that reach because I think we are taking even more control of our well-being. More now than ever before. Functional medicine, alternative practices, various types of modalities and therapies are talked about and not whispered in corners like they are some strange witch brew. I’m grateful for that.

Of course, not just with my first but second breast cancer diagnosis, this has become my pain into purpose, my passion and mission. I want to help other women who may not have the access to the information, the education and resources to elevate their wellness and become their healthiest healthy, which was the base of my book. It’s really a platform for having a foundation for people to understand we are each bio individuals. We might have something that works for us that doesn’t work for someone else and vice versa, but we have to have access to the information. That starts with a foundation of wellness and builds from there to see what works for us and our unique biology.

That certainly aligns with what looks to be presented.

The fact we have this lineup. For me, personally being a breast cancer survivor on a hormone blocker, for seven-and-a-half years being forced into early partial menopause. The hot flashes and night sweaters but still having the menstrual cycle. Now that I’m 51, the menopause threshold is passing through faster and faster. I see now all of the information I am gathering and sharing with others. I can’t wait to listen to Tamsen Fadal about what she learned when she made her wonderful documentary (The M Factor). She has so much information. Being a journalist and being interviewed by her multiple times, I’m looking to hear what she says based on her research. Naomi Watts, I’ve watched on the big screen forever. To hear how she has taken her journey and to be so transparent and raw for those people who might not feel they can be open and raw is really exciting as well.

You’ve also been open and raw about your cancer journey.

When I was first diagnosed in 2014, I was at the height of my TV career. My daughters were 3 and 6 at the time. My husband and I were blindsided by my breast cancer diagnosis. All I wanted to do is crawl into a deep hole. I felt this weight of anxiety and fear that was paralyzing. I’d never felt like that before. I’ve always been a positive, happy-go-lucky person. Cancer was crushing that. I decided that I couldn’t continue feeling like this and I flipped my perspective. I dug myself out of that hole with the wonderful support of friends and family around me.

Then I dove into research because as a journalist that is what we do. I found something empowering that was so mind-blowing. It allowed me to become empowered and take back control of wellness after a cancer diagnosis. I felt compelled to share with others through my book, my Instagram and Facebook and eventually the launch of my podcast. I wanted to show what that was is what we put in, on and around our bodies are what can trigger these chronic diseases and more uncomfortable and severe symptomatic menopause or neurodegenerative disorders. As a national ambassador for Susan G. Komen, I learned that only five or 10 percent of breast cancers are hereditary. So, when I realized I had no genetic link, that aha moment of realizing I have some power to change up how I’m putting my makeup and skincare and what I’m using for cleaning supplies in my home, how I’m eating and nourishing my body. Those amazing knowledge bombs allowed me to take back my well-being, to write my book, and share this with others.

How do you compare your mindset and approach between the two cancer diagnoses?

Full transparency, when I received my recurrence diagnosis in July 2024, 10 years after celebrating my cancerversary and being cancer-free, it shook my world again. It was a very different way to feel for better and for worse. For better, I was coming from a place of power. I had my medical team stacked, had incredible experts I could immediately reach out to who I’ve had on my podcast ready and willing to help. From that perspective, I was ready to take on this recurrence.

On the flipside, over the years I’ve made all these sweeping changes to my wellness routine to how I was approaching my sleep and stress and nutrition and movement. So how on earth could there be a recurrence? That was devastating at that moment. The best part when I learned it was a locally regional occurrence, which means some microscopic cancer cells were left after my mastectomy. We know mastectomies are not 100 percent guaranteed to prevent a recurrence. That made me feel a lot better. It made me feel the changes I made kept it at bay. It was a very tiny tumor. It was an interesting juxtaposition of the two with the empowerment and then this hopelessness at the same time.

TOM BERGERON, SAMANTHA HARRIS, LACEY SCHWIMMER, MARK DACASCOS, ANNA TREBUNSKAYA, CHUCK LIDDELL

You mentioned your friendship with Jennie goes back to Dancing with the Stars. How do you look back on that experience today?

Dancing with the Stars, Seasons 2-9, when I hosted we were in the heyday when we were 20-30 million viewers a night. It was so fun. I was a huge fan of Beverly Hills, 90210, as pretty much everyone in my age group was. I remember those nights at Northwestern University in the dorm where we’d all gather for pizza and back-to-back 90210 and Melrose Place. To be able to fast forward hosting Dancing with the Stars with Jennie as one of our celebrities was so much fun. I loved getting to know her. She had such a positive attitude, a smile on her face no matter the frustration or whatever was happening at home, she always showed up and gave it her best.

What was great about that time was you also got to work with Tom Bergeron. You two had a nice dynamic.

We had such a blast, Tom and I. I’m grateful for the experience. I learned a lot from him. At that point, I was still very early in my TV career. When I first got that job, I was working full-time at E! News and eventually made my way to Entertainment Tonight. I was hosting both shows at the same time, so I learned a lot from watching him.

From a fan’s perspective, is there anyone you think would be great for the show who we haven’t seen yet?

Gosh, after 30 some seasons I don’t know who is left [laughs]. I think they do a fantastic job of finding a mix of those who are part of current events and pop culture and then grabbing someone who was born in the 1970s or 1980s can enjoy the flashback nostalgia. It’s funny, I don’t really watch the show anymore. Every blue moon I will tune in and see Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro, who are doing a fantastic job. I can’t think of two other hosts to replace the likes of Tom and me and the fun we had on that show.

Samantha Harris with Tom Cruise

When you look back at your journalism career, do you have a milestone celebrity interview that reinforced that this is why you do what you do for a living?

That’s such an interesting way to ask that question. Oftentimes I was asked what were your most memorable celebrity interviews. For me, that immediately goes to Hugh Jackman twirling and dipping me or being on the back of a Ducati with Tom Cruise riding through the streets of Seville, Spain. I think it’s the emotional interviews. The times when you are able to connect on a level beyond the celebrity. When it comes to that, there are honestly too many to pick out one. The frivolity and fun of bringing entertainment to people and pulling back the curtain kept me going.

What are your thoughts on the women in entertainment journalism from when you started to now?

I remember sharing the table on The View with Barbara Walters when I was up for that job and turned it down to take a job at Extra. Being able to see the woman who was the trailblazer and how cautious she was with her line of questioning, how methodical she was in her preparation. You don’t see that anymore with the widespread ability to get your news because so many who are putting content out there aren’t trained as journalists. At the same time, I do look to those who are on the network shows and I’m so grateful for their training because it comes through in their reporting. I’ll leave it at that.

So are you an armchair quarterback when you’re watching the morning or evening shows looking at their technique or delivery?

Not as much anymore, since I’ve come into my own. I remember when I was in college and right out of school and wanted to be in entertainment news so badly. I don’t think I’ve told Nancy O’Dell this or Mary Hart, but I would watch Nancy and Mary on Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight. I would record it on my VHS tape and pause it and basically regurgitate exactly what they said in the same cadence they said it. What’s so funny when I got my first job at Extra, I was in the voiceover booth doing my voiceovers for the segment, the voiceover operator who had been the voiceover operator for decades said, “Samantha, you’re doing great, but you need to figure out your own voice.” It was an aha moment of being able to take what I’ve learned now and make it my own.

Jennie Garth Dishes on Marriages, Family Life & More

Anything you want to let others know about?

Hopefully, I’ll be able to talk about a TV project I’m working on soon. In the meantime, on the wellness side, “Your Healthiest Healthy” podcast is a passion project of mine. I also have the “Your Healthiest Healthy” retreats. I have one coming up in Santa Monica in the beginning of June and my annual retreat in Utah later in October. We’re going to Zion National Park this year, so I’m really excited about that. On Instagram and Facebook, I’m always sharing tips as well as in my free private groups that offer five or 10-day challenges. So if you’re following me, you’ll be able to learn about those and can make sure to be part of it.

Tickets to the “I Choose Me, Los Angeles” live event on February 8 are available here. Limited VIP Experience packages are available and will include a post-show meet & greet with Jennie Garth and special event merchandise.