Hairspray Live! college sophomore Maddie Baillio, as her first professional role. In November 2016, it was announced that Ricki Lake and Marissa Jaret Winokur (who portrayed Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film and the Broadway version respectively) would make cameo appearances; Winokur and Lake appeared as employees of Mr. Pinky's boutique. Darren Criss served as an on-air host, hosting a half-hour "Countdown to Hairspray Live!" show on NBC with Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes, as well as behind-the-scenes reports throughout the live broadcast. Oreo, Reddi-wip, and Toyota broadcast live, themed commercials during "Hairspray Live!"; Oreo's ad featured the character of Corny Collins,
Charm School with Ricki Lake the carpet. Ricki is surprised to see Ashley on the carpet, and is shocked when Ashley says Gia was the one that voted for her. Ricki asks her why she voted for Ashley, but Gia simply says "It is what it is, I drank so much tonight." Ricki warns Brittaney that trouble does seem to follow her. She tells Gia that she has a good heart and that she could tell Gia wanted to be here, but that she slid back into her "party girl ways". Ricki tells Ashley that she can tell she's sincere about wanting to get of