Whitney Marie Leavitt (néeEllis; born May 12, 1993) is an American media personality and actress. She gained prominence through her appearances on the Hulu reality television series The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (2024–2026) and the ABC competition series Dancing with the Stars.
Leavitt made her Broadway debut playing Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago (2026). Her run grossed over $8 million, and earned the highest weekly box office sales in the show's 29-year history.
Early life
Whitney Marie Ellis was born on May 12, 1993, in American Fork, Utah. She was raised Mormon with four biological siblings; her parents, Brady and Stephanie Ellis, additionally fostered at least a half-dozen other children. Throughout grade school, she was a competitive dancer and trained at the rival studio of professional dancer Witney Carson.
In 2018, Ellis graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor's degree in fine arts with an emphasis on dance. She then backpacked across Europe for two months and lived in Uganda for four months.
Career
Leavitt began creating content on the social media platform TikTok in March 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. She quickly joined a community of Utah-based influencers known as "MomTok". In December 2021, Leavitt received significant backlash after she filmed herself dancing while her newborn son was in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) recovering from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and pneumonia.
In 2024, Leavitt appeared as a main cast member of the Hulu reality television series The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. She adopted a villainous persona throughout the series, which established her as a breakout star according to Vulture. On June 30, 2025, during the show's second reunion special, host Nick Viall revealed that Leavitt was cast in the thirty-fourth season of the ABC reality competition series Dancing with the Stars. She was paired with professional dancer Mark Ballas, and was the subject of intense criticism from audience viewers on social media. Despite receiving the highest cumulative points in the season at the time, Leavitt and Ballas were eliminated during the semifinals on November 18, 2025, finishing in sixth place.
Following their elimination, Leavitt and Ballas discussed their experience on Dancing with the Stars with Alex Cooper on her podcast Call Her Daddy, through the cooperation of ABC. They also performed their jazz-based freestyle routine to Frank Sinatra's "My Way", which received widespread acclaim. Shortly after the episode was aired, Leavitt announced that she would be making her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre during a six-week run in 2026. Her run later received a two-week extension due to overwhelming demand. Between March 8 and March 15, 2026, Leavitt's performance raked in $1,457,930.77, the highest weekly box office sales in the show's 29-year history.
During her final Chicago performance on May 3, 2026, Leavitt announced her departure from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. She will make her film acting debut alongside Jesse Kove in the holiday romantic comedy film All For Love, which she will also executive produce. In December, she will return to Broadway as Sandra Dee in the jukebox musical Just In Time for a six-week run.
