Meet the Hosts

John O’Hurley

John O’Hurley, versatile host, actor, and television personality, returns for his 23rd consecutive year as host of The National Dog Show Presented by Purina®.

Dubbed one of People magazine’s “Sexiest Men Alive,” he is best known as “J. Peterman” on Seinfeld, for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award. He was also the ultimate champion of the first-ever Dancing with the Stars. He has authored three books – Before The Dog Can Eat Your Homework First You Have To Do It: Life Lessons from a Wise Old Dog to a Young Boy (Hudson Street Press, 2007), the New York Times bestseller It’s Okay to Miss the Bed on the First Jump (Plume, 2007), and his latest book for children The Perfect Dog (Grosset & Dunlap, 2013), which since its release has inspired The Perfect Dog, a musical designed for children’s theatre. The musical production is licensed by Broadway Licensing as part of its catalog of musicals. He stars in his own one-man show A Man with Standards, a humorous and poignant take on his life and experiences in show business, which has been touring since 2017. O’Hurley is now appearing in public service announcements as spokesperson and ambassador for the Puppy Food Bank, an organization that began by providing food to pet rescue groups in Texas and has recently expanded its footprint to assist pet rescue shelters all across America. In support of no-kill shelters and reducing the number of euthanized pets each year, their virtual food bank is currently taking donations. The O’Hurley family owns a pure-bred Havanese named Lucy and two small rescues named Charlotte and Mia.