Frankie Grande

Frankie Grande first gained widespread recognition in 2014 as a contestant on the 16th season of CBS’s ‘Big Brother,’ where he placed 5th. Prior to his reality television breakthrough, Grande had already established a robust performing career, beginning by 2007. He appeared as Boots the Monkey in a national tour of ‘Dora the Explorer Live! (Dora’s Pirate Adventure)’ and featured in regional theatre productions including ‘George M!’ and ‘A Chorus Line.’ In 2007, he made his Broadway debut, joining the cast of ‘Mamma Mia!’ as an ensemble member and understudy for Eddie, a role he performed for three years.

Grande expanded into production, notably working on Broadway shows such as the 2009 run of ‘Hamlet’ starring Jude Law, and revivals of ‘La Bête’ (2010–2011) and ‘Born Yesterday’ (2011). He also produced Brooke Shields’ 2011 one-woman cabaret show and presented his own one-man show, ‘Livin’ la Vida Grande,’ before returning to Broadway as Franz in ‘Rock of Ages’ from 2014 to 2015. From 2015, Grande diversified his presence across television and digital platforms. He served as a judge on the 8th season of MTV’s ‘America’s Best Dance Crew’ in 2015 and co-hosted Amazon’s live fashion and shopping program, ‘Style Code Live,’ from 2016 to 2017.

His reality television career continued in 2016 with an appearance on the UK’s ‘Celebrity Big Brother 18,’ where he finished in 6th place. Grande took on the recurring villainous role of Frankini in Nickelodeon’s popular series ‘Henry Danger’ (2017–2019) and later reprised the character in ‘Danger Force’ (2020–2022). He also made an appearance in the 2017 series ‘Haters Back Off’ and released his music single, ‘Queen,’ in 2017. More recently, Grande has continued his acting and hosting ventures.

For his contributions to buildOn, Grande was honored with a Global Impact Award in 2014.