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 from "Rock of Love Bus" and "Real Chance of Love" on a bus traveling to meet their headmistress, Ricki Lake. Each girl is given a "Charm School" alias to represent what it is they need to work on in "Charm School". Ricki Lake introduces herself to the girls, stating that the fourteen girls will learn to make a difference in their lives by helping those in need. She tells the girls that they will kick off the semester by doing something good right off the bat, donating some of their own clothes to the charity Out of the Closet. The