All About Jerry Springer's Daughter, Katie Springer

Jerry Springer died at age 79 in a suburb of Chicago on April 27, 2023, after a "brief illness."

The celebrated talk show host and former mayor of Cincinnati is survived by his daughter Katie Springer, his only child. He welcomed her in 1976 with Micki Velton, to whom he was married to until his death.

Katie was among those people with whom he shared a close bond, and he often talked about their relationship. In fact, The Jerry Springer Show host memorably had a father-daughter moment during his stint on Dancing with the Stars.

While competing on season 3 of the show, Springer and partner Kym Johnson performed a waltz, which Springer learned with his daughter in mind. In fact, head judge Len Goodman — who died on April 24, just days before Springer — recalled it as one of his most memorable moments from his time on the show.

"Jerry Springer, hoping to stay in [the competition] long enough so he could learn to waltz and dance it at his daughter's wedding, spring to mind in a flash when I think back," Goodman said.

Although Katie has lived the majority of her life out of the public eye, she has spoken in support of her father and expressed her gratitude for all that he's taught her throughout her "whole life."

In April 2024, Katie told PEOPLE that her dad "wanted his family to have what they wanted."

“I always said you had to be careful if you told dad you wanted something because you would probably get it if he could get it for you,” she said.

Here's everything to know about Jerry Springer's one and only daughter, Katie.

She is legally blind and deaf in one ear

Katie is legally blind and deaf in one ear. She was born without nasal passages, a condition that was fixed through surgery after she was born.

During a 2006 interview with Access Hollywood, Katie opened up about her parents and how they've always supported her amid her health challenges. She credited them for raising her without any limitations.

"I've heard this story that when I was first born and they heard about all these problems, they just said, 'We're never going to treat her different, we're going to make sure she knows she's not different,'" Katie said.

In the interview, Katie credited that mindset for launching her into her successful life.

"Look at me now," Katie said at the time. "About to get married, live independently, have a wonderful career."

She works with children who have special needs

While little details are known about Katie's current employment status, she spent time in the early 2000s as an assistant teacher at Chicago's Park School, dedicating her life to children with special needs.

In 2006, Jerry donated $230,000 to Park School to help build "Katie's Corner," a high-tech facility for students with disabilities.

"Park is the first school in the nation to have a multi-sensory facility attached to the school," reported The Daily Northwestern at the time. The center "caters to students with disabilities by focusing on developing different areas like academics, vocational skills and skills for living at home."

She danced with Jerry at her wedding

Katie wed in December 2006, and got to have the dance with her father that he had practiced for on Dancing with the Stars.

In the months leading up to the wedding, Access Hollywood reported that Jerry and Katie were being tutored by the talk-show host's Dancing With the Stars partner, Kym Johnson. They waltzed, a dance that Jerry had memorably performed on the show while his daughter proudly watched in the audience.

In fact, Katie was the reason that Jerry agreed to participate the dance competition in the first place.

"I originally told them no, I didn't want to do it," the talk show host said at the time. "I don't know how to dance and I didn't think it was appropriate."

But after speaking with Katie, Jerry's mind changed: "We thought, 'You know what, this could be a way to combine what I do in life, which is show business, with the wedding'."

She learned a lot of lessons from Jerry

During Jerry's conversation with Access Hollywood, he revealed the valuable life lessons he strived to instill in his daughter — and shared that he realized that facing his fears on Dancing with the Stars was "not much different than Katie's life."

"The lesson of life which you teach your children is that, whatever hand you're dealt, you go out there and do the best you can and you don't worry about how good anyone else might be," Jerry said. "You don't worry about the vanity of, 'Oh, I'm going to look silly'."

He concluded, "Katie lives her whole life like that, so I can do it in a dance."

She thought Jerry would make a good President

In another 2006 interview with Access, Katie spoke highly of her father and defended him at the same time. In fact, she went as far to say that he'd make a great President of the United States.

"I will stand up to anyone verbally who attacks my dad because he's wonderful… he would make one hell of a President," Katie told the outlet at the time. "I think people don't realize what a huge heart he has. If my dad could change the world and make it better for everybody, he would."