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Alfonso Ribeiro Reveals the Real Origin of ''The Carlton,'' Breaks It Down With Ralph Macchio—Watch!

Former Fresh Prince star is currently competing on season 19 of Dancing With the Stars

By Alyssa Toomey Sep 30, 2014 12:00 AMTags
Watch: Alfonso Ribeiro Offers Guys Dancing Tips

We've already seen Alfonso Ribeiro "Get Jiggy With It" on Dancing With the Stars, but of course the question still remains: Will the former Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star ever break out the Carlton Dance? 

E! News tried to get to the bottom of the burning query when we caught up with the 43-year-old celeb, as well as former Karate Kid star Ralph Macchio, who recently partnered with Wendy's for the fast food chain's #bbq4Merica campaign to promote their new pulled pork sandwiches.

"I think Will Smith did it best in Hitch," Ribeiro dished when asked to share his go-to dance move before he and Macchio broke out into a nice little side step. 

"And I do the White Man's Overbite," Macchio added, "That's a Billy Crystal, but I'm stealing it from Billy Crystal." 

Watch: Alfonso Ribeiro Lands His Dream Job on "DWTS"

And since we've already seen the season 19 competitor pay tribute to his former co-star on the hit ABC show, we couldn't help but ask whether he has any more Smith family songs up his sleeve, considering no nod is complete with a little hair whipping, thanks to Willow Smith

"Well, that doesn't move," Ribeiro quipped as he pointed to his perfectly coiffed hair, "So it kind of hurts that song, but we'll see." 

As for why Ribeiro felt it was finally the right time to appear on Dancing With the Stars

"I'm doing it now because they finally asked me, I've been wanting to do the show from the beginning. So it was never really my choice not to be on the show, it was their choice not to have me," he candidly revealed. "So now because they asked and I'm a huge fan of the show, I've been a huge fan of the show for many years...so to be on there now is finally great and fun and we're having a blast doing it." 

Watch: The Carlton's Funny Origin Is Revealed!

While Carlton Alfonso opted to remain mum on whether he will be breaking out the famous Carlton Dance, the actor was more than happy to clarify the much-debated origin of the hip-swinging move. 

"I have gone on the record and said many times that the Carlton Dance is something that I took from Courteney Cox and Eddie Murphy," he revealed. "So Courtney Cox did it in the Bruce Springsteen 'Dancing in the Dark' video and Eddie Murphy did it in his delirious video where he called it the 'White Man Dance.' The core of the dance comes from both of them, in terms of how I saw it, it's been done for many decades before but those are the first two images that I have. And from that I made it my own...So essentially created a different version of the dance that was inspired by Eddie and Courteney." 

Watch: Is Alfonso Ribeiro Stuck in the '80s?

Ribeiro, who is one of the most beloved '90s television stars, also confessed that his friends call him "'80s Al." Watch the clip to hear his hilarious reason why! 

Are you rooting for Ribeiro on DWTS? Tell us in the comments! 

PHOTOS: Check out DWTS' Season 19 cast!