Stefanie Jill Ridel (born May 17, 1973) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was a member of the girl group Wild Orchid, and was a co-host of the television show ''Great Pretenders''.

Early life

Stefanie Jill Ridel was born in Hollywood, California. She has two brothers, Mark and Chris Ridel.

Acting career

She is best known as a co-host of the TV show ''Great Pretenders''. From 1983 to 2004 she made various appearances singing on television, mostly with Wild Orchid. Her acting career began on commercials and landing guest star roles on TV shows like '' The Facts Of Life'', ''

The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Bea Arthur, Betty White ...

'', ''

Punky Brewster ''Punky Brewster'' is an American sitcom television series about a young girl (Soleil Moon Frye) being raised by a foster parent (George Gaynes). The show ran on NBC from September 16, 1984, to March 9, 1986, and again in syndication from Octobe ...

'', '' Married... with Children'', and ''

Blossom In botany, blossoms are the flowers of stone fruit trees (genus ''Prunus'') and of some other plants with a similar appearance that flower profusely for a period of time in spring. Colloquially, flowers of orange are referred to as such as wel ...

''. She lent her singing voice to the character, Yasmin in the film ''

Bratz Bratz is an American fashion doll and media franchise created by former Mattel employee Carter Bryant for MGA Entertainment which debuted in 2001. The four original 10-inch (25 cm) dolls were released on May 21, 2001 — Yasmin, Cloe, Jade ...

''.

Music career

In 1991, a girl group called NRG was formed. They were a quartet made up of herself, Heather Holyoak, and

Stacy Ferguson Stacy Ann Ferguson (born March 27, 1975), better known by her stage name Fergie (), is an American singer and rapper. She first achieved chart success as part of the hip hop group the Black Eyed Peas. Her debut solo album, ''The Dutchess'' ( ...

, and

Renee Sands Renee Ilene Sandstrom (born February 15, 1974) is an American singer and former child actress better known by her stage name Renee Sands. She is best known for her role as Renee on ''Kids Incorporated'', and as a vocal member of the American girl ...

Kids Incorporated ''Kids Incorporated'' (also known as ''Kids Inc.'') is an American children's television program that began production in the mid-1980s and continued airing well into the early 1990s. It was largely a youth-oriented program with musical performan ...

. They were signed to Sony Records that year, and changed their name to Wild Orchid. Soon Heather left the group for college and was replaced by Micki Duran, also a Kids Incorporated alumni. They recorded a debut album, but Micki soon left the group to pursue acting, and they were dropped from Sony. They signed to RCA Records, and recorded their self-titled debut album, which was released in 1996. Their second album, ''Oxygen'', was released in 1998, and they recorded ''Fire'' in 2000. It was leaked to the internet and they were dropped from RCA in 2001. Ferguson left the group, and they became a duo as they opened Yellow Brick Records. ''Hypnotic'' was released on the internet in 2003, and the band then broke up in 2004. She took a short break from music before she and Kyle Hendricks, under the stage name Rain, created the band, 5th Element. She also produced and wrote for The Slumber Party Girls. She produced tracks for

Prima J Prima J is an American musical duo, composed of cousins Jessica and Janelle Martinez. Jessica (born on May 25, 1988) and Janelle (born on August 26, 1988) came up with their stage name by combining the letter "J" in each of their given names w ...

. 5th Element has released a debut album, ''Here Comes the Rain Again'', and Stefanie co-founded Talent Bootcamp, a camp training today's greatest music sensations. She contributed to the Bratz movie soundtrack in 2007.

Modeling career

She was a spokesmodel for Bongo and Guess!.

Personal life

While a member of Wild Orchid, she had a brief marriage, before marrying longtime manager

Ron Fair Ronald Fair is an American A&R executive, record producer, record executive, musical arranger, recording engineer and conductor. In a career that has spanned over 30 years at major record labels he has produced and arranged hits for several art ...

. They have three sons (Ellington Fair, born April 16, 2007, London Fair, born in 2009, and Rocco Fair, born in 2011) and one daughter (Ella Fair, born 2008).

Discography

with Wild Orchid

Albums

*'' Wild Orchid'' (1996) *''

Oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

'' (1998) *''

Hypnotic Hypnotic (from Greek ''Hypnos'', sleep), or soporific drugs, commonly known as sleeping pills, are a class of (and umbrella term for) psychoactive drugs whose primary function is to induce sleep (or surgical anesthesiaWhen used in anesthesia ...

'' (2003)

Singles

At Night I Pray ''Wild Orchid'' is the self-titled debut album by American group Wild Orchid, released on March 23, 1997. It is their most successful album. Production After signing a recording contract with RCA Records, the trio wrote and recorded songs thro ...

" (1996) * "Talk to Me" (1997) * "Supernatural" (1997) * "Follow Me" (1997) * "Be Mine" (1998) *"

Stuttering (Don't Say) ''Fire'' was the unreleased third album by Wild Orchid. The album was meant to be released on June 19, 2001, but was shelved after the group was dropped by RCA Records. This would've been the group's final release with Stacy Ferguson. Production ...

" (2001)

With 5th Element

Singles

*"2 Nite" *"Deeper" *"Judgment Day" *"Follow Me" *"Just Another Day" *"Just Groove" *"Underbelly" *"Happy" *"I Won't Walk Away" *"Here Comes the Rain Again Remixes"

Soundtrack contributions

*'' Bratz: Motion Picture Soundtrack'' (2007)

As Songwriter

*'' Bratz: The Movie'' (2007) *'' Hannah Montana: The Movie'' (2009) *"

Don't Waste The Pretty "Don't Waste the Pretty" is the third single by Allison Iraheta of her debut album '' Just Like You''. It was written by Michael Dennis Smith, Stefanie Ridel, Miriam Nervo and Olivia Nervo and was produced by Howard Benson. The single version of t ...

" (2010)Allison Iraheta exclusive: We reveal songwriting and production credits for her debut album!
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Allison Iraheta Allison Iraheta (; born April 27, 1992) is an American singer from Los Angeles, California, who was the fourth place finalist on the eighth season of ''American Idol''. Prior to ''Idol'', Iraheta won the Telemundo competition ''Quinceañera: Mam� ...

Television work

*''The Facts of Life'' (1 episode, 1983) *''Punky Brewster'' (1 episode, 1985) *''

'' (1 episode, 1989) *''

Oh Henry! Oh Henry! is an American candy bar containing peanuts, caramel, and fudge coated in chocolate. History There are multiple versions of the Oh Henry! bar origin story. The manufacturer Nestlé says that the bar was introduced by George Willia ...

'' ...Megan (1989) *''

'' (2 episode, 1991 & 1993)...Barbara Jenkins and Melissa Alter *'' Cutters'' ...Fawn (1993) *''

Joe's Life ''Joe's Life'' is an American sitcom which aired on ABC from September 29, 1993, until December 15, 1993. The series was created by Bob Myer, and produced by a.k.a. Productions and Bob Myer Productions in association with Buena Vista Television. ...

'' ...Karen (1993) *'' Married... with Children'' (1 episode, 1994) ...Lisa Pruner *''

Locals Locals Technology Inc., also referred to as locals.com, is a creator crowdfunding site cofounded by Dave Rubin and Assaf Lev. It started in 2019 and is based in Miami. The site was founded after Rubin and Jordan Peterson left Patreon in response ...

''...Kris (1994) *''

Goode Behavior ''Goode Behavior'' is an American sitcom that premiered August 26, 1996, on UPN. The series was cancelled after one season, airing its last episode on May 19, 1997, for a total of 22 episodes. Synopsis Willie Goode (Sherman Hemsley) is a newly ...

'' ...Stefanie (1996) *''Great Pretenders'' ...Herself as Co-Host (unknown episodes, 1998)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ridel, Stefanie 1973 births Living people 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers American child actresses American dance musicians American women pop singers American women singer-songwriters American film actresses American television actresses Wild Orchid (group) members 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers American singer-songwriters