Zach Anner

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Zach Anner
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Buffalo, New York, United States
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Alma materKenmore West Senior High School
Years active2010–present
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Websitewww.zachanner.com

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Zach Anner (born November 17, 1984)[1] is an American comedian, actor, and writer with cerebral palsy who gained worldwide attention with the submission of a video to Oprah Winfrey's "Search for the Next TV Star" competition.[2] He won his own TV show on OWN through Oprah's Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star.[3] His wheelchair travel show, Rollin' With Zach, premiered December 12, 2011.[4] He wrote for and guest-starred on the 2016–2019 ABC-TV sitcom Speechless, which is centered on a teenager with cerebral palsy.

Early life and education

Zach Anner is originally from Kenmore, New York. He was born with cerebral palsy.[5] Anner graduated from Kenmore West Senior High School.

After a stint working for Disney World as a park security specialist at Epcot,[6][full citation needed] he started college at the University of Texas, Austin, in 2005. While attending school, he obtained celebrity interviews through That's Awesome, a sketch comedy program on Texas Student TV K29HW-D, the university's local public-access television cable TV channel.[2] That’s Awesome was created by independent filmmaker Mark Dennis, a friend Zach credits as the one who encouraged him to be in front of the camera.[7] Also at UT-Austin, Anner was a member of comedy troupe Lark the Beard, with whom he wrote and appeared in the mockumentary web-series The Wingmen[8][9]

Oprah contest and Rollin' With Zach

On June 2, 2010, Anner uploaded a video submission to a contest sponsored by Oprah Winfrey and Harpo Productions.[10] Oprah's "Search for the Next TV Star" contest is a chance for one "top five" finalist to compete on a reality show located in Los Angeles, California. The winner of the reality program would receive a show on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. The "top five" online finalists were to be determined by the number of votes their video received. On the morning of Friday, June 11, 2010, Anner had just over 3,000 votes for his video submission, while the leader of the competition possessed more votes.

By the night of Saturday, June 12, celebrity endorsements and support began to appear for Anner. John Mayer, an early supporter of Anner's, posted words of encouragement on his blog. According to The Daily Texan, Anner, who had taken a weekend trip to Dallas, was unaware of the overnight success of his video submission.[2] Anner's friends filmed his reaction to the then over 2,000,000 votes, as well as the blog and "To Zach Anner" video by John Mayer. Anner exclaimed, "How.... what the... what the balls is this?" at the sight of his new popularity.[11] As a response, Anner posted the subsequent "Thank You, Internet" and "I want to come and see you!" videos.

On February 25, it was announced that Zach Anner had won the competition, winning his own television show, $100,000, and a Chevrolet Equinox. The show, titled Rollin' With Zach, premiered December 12, 2011,[12] but was cancelled after six episodes.[13]

Celebrity and media support

As of June 15, 2010, Anner had received support from Perez Hilton, John Mayer, Harry Knowles, David Hasselhoff, Daniel Tosh, and others on the Internet. He had also received coverage in New York Magazine,[14] Time,[15] Entertainment Weekly,[16] ABC News,[17] Fox News (Red Eye),[18] Tubefilter.tv,[19] and G4TV.[20]

Alleged rigging

According to internet speculation, the contest was rigged against Anner, as a contestant named Dr. Phyllis received over 300,000 votes in 20 minutes and surpassed Anner.[21] Many voters noticed that after they placed a vote for Anner, the total number of his votes would actually decrease, further adding to the belief that the system was rigged. Anner expressed skepticism about the alleged rigging, stating, "I sincerely doubt that Oprah would do anything like that. She’s probably too busy building schools and helping children to even notice someone like me."[22]

YouTube

Anner has a YouTube channel where he posts videos on a weekly basis. The channel has over 350,000 subscribers and over 15 million total views.[23] He has multiple series that he includes on the channel, including project "Riding Shotgun",[24] which premiered on October 23, 2012, and "Workout Wednesday", which premiered on August 21, 2013.[25] The latter featured a video that was auto-tuned by The Gregory Brothers.[26] In 2013, Zach started doing a show with SoulPancake titled "Have a little faith", in which he explores, in his comedic way, the basic rules of several religions that have a foothold in the United States. Among other religions, Zach has explored Judaism, Islam, the Bahá'í faith, Mormonism, Quakerism, Baptism, and Catholicism.

Zach has also been featured on the Rooster Teeth shows The Eleven Little Roosters, Million Dollars But..., and its game show, On The Spot, as a contestant.

Since April 2025, Anner has been a part of "Answer for It" alongside James and Elyse Willems, and A.J. LoCascio.

Television

Anner wrote for the 2016–2019 ABC television series Speechless.[27] He also guest starred on three episodes of the show as Lee.[28]

Personal life

Anner is engaged to his girlfriend Karlee Currin, as of December 2024.[29]

References

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  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."About Zach Anner". The Real Zach Anner. Archived from the original on October 8, 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Rich, Gerald (June 16, 2010). "Zach Anner flattens 'Next Oprah' competition". The Daily Texan. The University of Texas at Austin. Archived from the original on September 26, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Meet the Contestants of Your OWN Show". OWN. Archived from the original on January 16, 2011. Retrieved January 15, 2011.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Zach Anner Wins His 'OWN' Wheelchair Travel Show in Oprah Competition". AMS Vans. Archived from the original on March 12, 2011. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Rubin, Josh (June 16, 2010). "Internet star with cerebral palsy could be the next Oprah". Toronto Star. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  6. ^ The Daily Texan, Volume 124, Issue 30 The University of Texas, 2006.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Rich, Gerald. "Zach Anner flattens 'Next Oprah' competition". The Daily Texan. Archived from the original on November 26, 2011. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cooper, Chet (April 2020). "Zach Anner". Ability Magazine. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Anner, Zachary Dean (April 1, 2016). "How I friended Oprah Winfrey and Stephen Colbert: Zach Anner on comedy and cerebral palsy ("The sexiest of the palsies")". Salon. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Zach's Audition: Zach is Oprah 2 (now with wheelchair and world travel)". The Oprah Winfrey Network. June 2, 2010. Archived from the original on June 16, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Zach Thanks The Internet". BuzzFeed. June 13, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Official Trailer: Rollin' With Zach". Oprah.com. Archived from the original on April 29, 2013. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Rollin' With Zach". www.facebook.com.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Zimmerman, Edith (June 23, 2010). "Zach Anner, Oprah's Replacement, Gives a Taste of His Travel Show". New York Magazine. New York magazine / New York Media LLC. Archived from the original on June 28, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Topic: Zach Anner". TIME NewsFeed. Time magazine / Time Inc. June 24, 2010. Archived from the original on July 14, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Armstrong, Jennifer (June 14, 2010). "Evidence of a benevolent Internet: Zach Anner's journey into the Oprahsphere". EW.com. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 17, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Alfonsi, Sharyn (June 16, 2010). "The Conversation: Zach Anner, Oprah's Unlikely Star". ABC News. Archived from the original on June 21, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Zach Anner: Oprah 2.0". Fox News Channel. June 23, 2010. Archived from the original on June 26, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cohen, Joshua (June 14, 2010). "Oprah Should Choose Zach Anner to be Next Oprah". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on June 17, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ishimoto, Moye (June 30, 2010). "Your OWN Show's Contestant Zach Anner". Attack of the Show. G4TV. Retrieved July 8, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Finnegan, Leah (June 22, 2010). "Oprah NOT Rigging Votes Against Zach Anner [UPDATED]". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on June 25, 2010. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Bierly, Mandi (June 23, 2010). "Oprah Winfrey Network to investigate Zach Anner-Dr. Phyllis voting controversy". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 28, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Zach Anner - about". YouTube. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Zach's Reddit Travel Show! (Riding Shotgun) - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on November 6, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  25. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Anner, Zach (August 21, 2013). "Pullups and Pick-me-ups - Workout Wednesday #1". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021.
  26. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Lo Lo Lo Lo Lohan. schmoyoho. April 15, 2014. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021 – via YouTube.
  27. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."'Speechless' writer Zach Anner: People with disabilities can be anything, even jerks". The Frame. LAist. September 26, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
  28. ^ Zach Anner at IMDbTemplate:Edit at Wikidata
  29. ^ Template:Cite instagram

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