Before Alfonso Ribeiro won the mirrorball trophy on “Dancing With The Stars” and later returned as its co-host, he was married to fellow actress Robin Stapler. Their relationship predates his DWTS fame by well over a decade.
Ribeiro built his career playing one of television’s most beloved characters. Ribeiro may be known to an entire generation as Carlton Banks on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” but the second act of his career would lead to be his most personally consequential.
Who is Robin Stapler?
Stapler, 53, was an actress in her own right through the ’90s and early 2000s. She is most well-known for her role as Alixia in the “Star Trek: Voyager” fourth season episode “Mortal Coil.” Stapler also appeared in shows like “Martin,” “Diagnosis: Murder,” and “The Parkers.” One of her final acting credits was from Jonathan Frakes’ 1997 anthology series “Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction.”
Stapler shared a snap of herself in character as Alixia on her Instagram, reminiscing on the role. She wrote in her caption about a “VERY awkward date” she once had with a fan of the role.
Ribeiro and Stapler’s Love in Hollywood
Ribeiro met Stapler in 1999 on the set of the sitcom “In the House,” where they played Dr. Maxwell Stanton and Robin/Kelly, respectively. The pair married on January 20, 2002, and welcomed a daughter, Sienna, in October that same year.
Their marriage ended in divorce, filed by Ribeiro in 2006 and finalized in 2007. Ribeiro cited irreconcilable differences as grounds for the divorce. Both parties handled the split privately, prioritizing their young daughter over creating any public fallout that tends to follow celebrity breakups. It seems that dynamic has carried through the years since, with Ribeiro and Stapler maintaining a cordial co-parenting relationship ever since.
Life After Their Split
By the time Alfonso Ribeiro was hosting DWTS, Stapler had already made her clean break from Hollywood stardom. She stepped back from acting after the divorce and built a new career as an entrepreneur, founding a company called RipFix.
RipFix is a skincare company focused on healing calluses and blisters, a business inspired in part by her daughter’s gymnastics training. The company’s idea also came from Stapler’s CrossFit training, according to the company’s website. Stapler is known for being an openly proud and supportive mother online, regularly celebrating her daughter’s milestones. She shared photos of her and daughter Sienna in Mexico City.
Ribeiro has since remarried, tying the knot with Angela Unkrich in 2012. Stapler has kept her post-divorce life largely private and has not remarried. Their daughter Sienna, now in her twenties, has built her own following through acting and social media. The couple share a blended family to this day, including Ribeiro’s three children with Unkrich. She shares Stapler’s affinity for prioritizing her private life away from public attention.
While Alfonso Ribeiro’s DWTS and “Fresh Prince” legacy has made him a fan favorite to a new generation of viewers, Stapler’s story is a reminder that his path to reality TV stardom started long before the ballroom. Stapler’s path from actress to wellness entrepreneur goes to show that her story spans farther than just one chapter on the screen. Her life is a testament to the fact that there can be a happy life after Hollywood.
