Actor Shemar Moore has always been a total hunk. He’s been making fans swoon ever since he broke big in 1994, landing the part of Malcolm Winters on The Young and the Restless. While that role helped make him a star and led to bigger things like a starring role on CBS’ Criminal Minds, he also had a side-gig as the host of Soul Train from 1999 to 2003 while still starring on Y&R. Videos have resurfaced from his time on the legendary music-dance show that featured the industry’s top R&B and hip hop stars, and Twitter fans are learning that Shemar’s got MOVES! And as he has for so many years, he looked so amazing shirtless.
In a clip from 2001, the now 50-year-old actor joined in on a dance contest shirtless, wearing only a pair of navy drop-crotch pants. Shemar showed off his incredibly ripped torso and abs that he kept in shape for all of his steamy love scenes on Y&R. A fan who shared the video clip on Aug. 27 noted, “Shemar Moore definitely should’ve been cast on Magic Mike considering the way he danced on Soul Train.” And how he looked without a shirt!
Fans the fell into two camps as clips went viral on Twitter. One which had no idea about Shemar’s dance skills and Soul Train hosting duties, and the other which remembers it well and now feels old as a result! @ThatGirlAly_ asked, “Whyyyyy did I not know shemar Moore use to host soul train,” while @mattdunnels was apparently confused about Shemar’s role on the program, asking “why tf was shemar moore a soul train dancer that deep into his career? that’s kinda sad in hindsight.” @tikanique joked, “I was today years old when I learned Shemar Moore was on Soul Train.”
Fan @Shaq88579832 tweeted, “Seeing the young generation discover Shemar Moore on soul train has me on the floor,” while @Jay_aye_eye posted the Denzel Washington clutching his chest meme and wrote, “The stress I felt seeing Shemar Moore trend! I thought 2020 took my very much unproblematic king! Turns out Tide Pod twitter just discovered he used to host Soul Train.” @CantBanChi marveled, “Twitter didn’t know Shemar Moore hosted soul train or are y’all just young?”
Soul Train was groundbreaking, produced by Black Americans for Black audiences, focusing on artists in the community including The Jackson 5, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and James Brown. The show first aired on Chicago’s WCIU-TV in 1970 with the legendary Don Cornelius as the host. It’s popularity quickly took off and the show made it’s way to other TV markets including Detroit, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, before becoming syndicated nationwide.
Cornelius served as host until 1993, when he retired. Shemar was the third full-time host following comedian Mystro Clark. Two years after leaving Soul Train, Shemar landed the part of Derek Morgan on Criminal Minds, where he stayed from 2005-2016. He’s starred on S.WA.T. as Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson ever since leaving Criminal Minds. And he looks just as amazing shirtless today as he did 20 years ago on Soul Train, as evidenced by the above photo from his Instagram that Shemar shared on Aug. 17, 2020.