Katherine Bailess is a talented actress, singer and dancer born and raised in Vicksburg, Mississippi and a true southern belle. She began studying classical dance at the age of four and competed in gymnastics, dance and cheerleading and was a Debutante twice…both in Mississippi and at the prestigious International Debutante Ball. At age 11, she began performing live on television as a dancer in the Miss Mississippi Pageant and has appeared in the pageant numerous times since as an entertainer. She was recently a judge for the 2017 Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, NJ.
Katherine is a small town girl who had big city dreams. Right outta high school she got a scholarship to Marymount Manhattan College and headed to New York City. After focusing on dance and musical theater at Marymount, Katherine went on to study acting at the William Esper Studio’s two-year intensive program.
She got her big break when she was cast in 20th Century Fox’s film, From Justin to Kelly, starring alongside Kelly Clarkson. Her other film credits include, Bring It On Again, Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale, Stone Markers,Below the Beltway and A Very Sordid Wedding.
Hollywood kept calling so Katherine eventually moved to LA and found her stride in TV. She has appeared on Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, Sordid Lives the Series, NCIS, Anger Management, The Loop and Bones. She has recently been starring as the sexy, southern tongued, “Kyle Hart” in VH1’s scripted series, Hit The Floor.
When not working, Kat keeps busy with Pilates, playing guitar, reading, hiking and giving back to the community. She also makes time to continue to work on country music both as a singer and songwriter. Samples of her music can be heard at www.reverbnation.com/katbailess.
Always looking for an opportunity to celebrate her Southern roots, she was thrilled to be chosen as an original cast member of YouTube’s Southern Women Channel and feels so blessed to be a part of all that Southern fun. Like the sayin’ goes, “You can take the girl outta the country but you can’t take the country outta the girl.”
Follow Kat on Instagram @katbailess