Samuel James "Sam" Champion (born August 13, 1961) is the weather anchor of ABC's Good Morning America and weather editor of ABC News.

Early life and education[link]

Champion was born in Paducah, Kentucky^[1] to Sylvia and James H. Champion. He has one sibling, a sister name Teresa. His father, who passed away in 2010, was a Lt. Colonel in the US Marine Corps and served in Vietnam.^[2] Sam has a B.A. in broadcast news from Eastern Kentucky University,^[3] where he interned at WKYT-TV in Lexington, Kentucky.

Career[link]

Champion is a veteran of ABC. He was also a veteran weatherman for WABC-TV's Eyewitness News in the New York City media market since 1988, and has continued to do fill-in work on WABC-TV since taking the network job full-time. He currently works on Good Morning America as a weatherman, making reportedly $1.5 million per year.^[4] He was also seen on a segment of World News with Diane Sawyer on January 4, 2010. On April 7, 2012, he debuted as host of Sea Rescue, an educational and informational program in Litton's Weekend Adventure that focuses on the rescue, rehabilitation, and in many instances release of animals back into wildlife.^[5]

He worked at WPSD-TV in Paducah, Kentucky, and WJKS (now WCWJ) in Jacksonville, Florida. On WABC-TV, he had helmed the weekday weather forecasts (5, 6 and 11 p.m.) since 1988, adding the latter two newscasts following Storm Field's departure from the station. In August 2006 Good Morning America announced that Champion was named to his current positions with GMA and ABC News, effective September 5, 2006.^[6]

Champion is not a meteorologist, but gained weather forecasting knowledge through his broadcast work. He has occasionally appeared on Live! with Kelly, the daily talk show produced by WABC-TV, and CNN's Larry King Live. He often begins his 30-second weathercasts by saying "Let's get to the boards." His catchphrase during weather reports for local ABC stations is, "That's the weather around the nation. Here's what you can expect this morning."

Personal life[link]

Champion is active in many charitable organizations in the New York City area. He was the Grand Marshal of the Multiple Sclerosis Society Fall Bike Tour, the chairman of the 25th annual March of Dimes NYC WalkAmerica, and master of ceremonies of "Stopping AIDS Together", a part of Sunday by the Bay. He hosted the New York City Project's 2002 "Courage Awards", along with movie critic Frank DeCaro.^[7][8]

The Wall Street Journal reported in November 2011 that Sam listed his New York Penthouse for $5.5 million. He has lived there since 1996.^[9]

Sam had a cancerous spot (basal cell carcinoma) removed from his skin in May 2010 while on air, this after numerous previous bouts with the life threatening disease. Criticisms were made that it was a sweeps month publicity stunt, but Sam refuted that raising awareness about skin cancer during Cancer Awareness Month was his real cause.^[10]

A New York indie rock band is named after him.^[11][12]

References[link]

Kelly Ripa
Ripa in 2008
Born	Kelly Maria Ripa (1970-10-02) October 2, 1970 (age 41) Stratford, New Jersey, United States
Occupation	Actress, host of Live! with Kelly, co-founder of Milojo, spokesperson for Electrolux and Rykä
Years active	1986–present
Spouse	Mark Consuelos (1996–present)
Children	3

Kelly Maria Ripa (born October 2, 1970) is an American actress, talk show host, and television producer. Ripa, who played Hayley Vaughan on the television soap opera All My Children from 1990–2002, is best known as host of the popular syndicated morning talk show Live! with Kelly. Additionally, Ripa and her husband Mark Consuelos own a New York based production company, Milojo.^[1]

In 2012, The Hollywood Reporter named her one of the Most Powerful People in Media.^[2]

Early life[link]

Ripa was born in Stratford, New Jersey, the daughter of Esther, a homemaker, and Joseph Ripa, a labor-union president and bus driver. She has a younger sister, Linda, who is a children's book author.^[3] She is of Italian and Irish descent.^[4] Her father has been the Democratic County Clerk for Camden County, New Jersey since June 2009. She is the first in her family to enter the acting profession. She has studied ballet since age three, plays the piano, and, in her words, is "no Barbra Streisand," but can carry a tune.^[5]

Ripa graduated from Eastern High School in Voorhees Township, New Jersey,^[6] where she became a cheerleader and was later encouraged by her drama teacher to pursue acting. "I owe so much of my career to Jim Beckley,"^[7] she said. "He thought I was a natural performer and so he gave me the lead in the next show."^[8] She starred in local theatre productions and was discovered while performing in the comedy play The Ugly Duckling (c. 1941), by A.A. Milne, during her senior year.^[6] She attended Camden County College studying psychology, but dropped out and moved to New York City to be an actress.^[9]

Television career[link]

Dance Party USA[link]

Aside from local TV gigs, Ripa's first national television exposure came in 1986 when she appeared as a regular dancer on Dance Party USA. Her career goal at the time was to be a newscaster and she often did the cast news reports.

All My Children[link]

Ripa was cast in her first major acting role in 1990 as Hayley Vaughan, a troubled party girl, on All My Children. She concluded her 12-year stint in 2002, but returned for two episodes in 2010 to help celebrate the soap opera's 40th anniversary.

Live![link]

After co-host Kathie Lee Gifford's final show on Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee, Regis Philbin began holding on-air auditions to find her replacement. In his autobiography, How I Got This Way, Philbin says of discovering Ripa:

"There was one guest we'd had on with us a few years before who had [a certain sparkle]. Hers was a natural, quick-witted, unaffected, confident, fun-loving kind of sparkle that both Gelman and I remembered very well. We decided to invite her back, this time to consider her as a possible co-host. So that was when this smiling, petite ball of fire named Kelly Ripa made her return to Live! for a test run at the rotating, up-for-grabs hot seat to my left. And my God, who knew what spontaneous combustion we'd make together?"^[10]

The day of Ripa's initial Live! with Regis tryout, November 1, 2000, among the guests was a psychic named Char Margolis. During this segment, Margolis revealed a secret that Ripa had been keeping under wraps: she's pregnant with her second child. Ripa blushed and nervously replied, "I haven't told my boss yet!" Philbin later revealed that of all the potential candidates including Jane Krakowski, Valerie Bertinelli, Dolly Parton, and Bernadette Peters: "it could only be Kelly. We knew that from her memorable debut onward." Ripa was announced as official replacement on February 5, 2001. Within months, the renamed Live! with Regis and Kelly's young-audience demographics increased by 80 percent with Ripa credited for bringing "a new life to the show."^[11]

The chemistry between Philbin and Ripa (or "Pippa" as he nicknamed her), their banter, interviews, and conversations about their families, personal lives, and New York City attracted a successful, strong, and loyal viewership averaging 6 million viewers daily.^[12] In January 2011, Philbin, 80, announced that he would be retiring from Live! at the end of the year. His final show aired Friday, November 18, 2011, during which Ripa tearfully reminisced about her first day, the 43 steps they walked together from her dressing room onto set each day for 11 years, and how those 43 steps changed her life. "Thank you for everything! It's been just great my Pippa," Philbin told her in an embrace. Ripa responded: "Thank you for everything. I love you." "I love you, too," said Philbin.^[13]

Ripa returned the following Monday, November 21, 2011 to continue the show, now entitled Live! with Kelly. In the same process that she was discovered to replace Gifford, a rotating lineup of co-hosts have auditioned on-air with Ripa, including: Michael Strahan, Neil Patrick Harris, Josh Groban, Seth Meyers, Jerry O'Connell, Nick Lachey, Derek Hough, Joel McHale, Taye Diggs, Ben Mulroney, Michael Bublé, Randy Jackson, Rob Lowe, Peter Facinelli, Reggie Bush, Dana Carvey, Mario Lopez, Mike Greenberg, Jerry Seinfeld, Martin Short, Bryant Gumbel, Pat Kiernan, Dan Abrams, Jesse Palmer, Howie Mandel, Chris Harrison, and D.L. Hughley.^[14] Although an official replacement has yet to be announced, ratings in the interim have been extremely successful and therefore why executive producer Michael Gelman says there is no rush to choose Ripa's new co-host.^[15]

Hope & Faith[link]

Ripa ventured into primetime in September 2003 on Hope & Faith, playing Faith Fairfield, an unemployed ex-soap star. The half-hour sitcom, co-starring Faith Ford, Ted McGinley, and Megan Fox, gave ABC its best Friday premiere score since 1996. The show was cancelled in May 2006 with Ripa declaring she "never wanted to work that hard again."^[16]

Film career[link]

Best known for her television work, Ripa also has several feature films to her credit. She appeared in the acclaimed Miramax feature Marvin's Room in 1996 alongside Meryl Streep and Leonardo DiCaprio. In 1999, she won the Best Actress Award at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival for her work in The Stand-In. Most recently, she was part of the voice cast of the computer-generated animated feature Fly Me to the Moon.

Other ventures[link]

Spokesperson[link]

Named among People's Most Intriguing People and one the Most Powerful People in Media according to The Hollywood Reporter, Ripa serves as a valuable and successful spokesperson for several companies. In the past, she has partnered with Tide, 7 Up, Pantene, and TD Bank, but currently works primarily with Electrolux and Rykä.

Rykä announced Ripa as the spokesperson for the brand's footwear and sporting apparel in 2008. Showcasing her commitment to an active, healthy lifestyle; Ripa oversees the design of her own fitness-inspired active wear line, The Kelly Ripa Collection.^[17]

Ripa stars in the Electrolux television and print advertising, and her image is used on point-of-sale materials and extensively online. Tom Coulman of Electrolux says "Her dynamic personality and on-the-go lifestyle really resonate and create a powerful brand connection."^[18]

Charity[link]

Ripa at 2007 Red Dress Collection for Heart Truth foundation

Ripa, a devoted supporter of the ovarian cancer cause, has teamed with Electrolux to raise funds for The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Every summer, she hosts an event called Super Saturday, a day-long fundraising event. 2011's event raised over $3.5 million for OCRF. Her dedication derives from losing a friend to ovarian cancer.^[19] In 2001, she appeared on a celebrity version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, hosted by Philbin. She won $250,000 for Tomorrow's Children's Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to speeding the healing of children with cancer and serious blood disorders.

Another cause important to Ripa is Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Her active involvement with MADD is motivated by her sister, Linda, who was almost killed by a drunk driver in 1999.^[20]

Production Company[link]

In 2007, Ripa and her husband Mark Consuelos founded Milojo, the highly successful SoHo-based production company. It began with the Emmy-nominated feature documentary The Streak, which told the story of a Florida high school wrestling team with a 34-year winning streak. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2008. In addition, Milojo launched a first-look development deal with Discovery Channel for non-scripted series' including Homemade Millionaire, hosted by Ripa, and the docu-series Masters of Reception. Their next film, Off the Rez, was also accepted to the Tribeca Film Festival and premiered on TLC in May 2011.^[21] In 2012, the company premiered its first short film, a collaboration with Will Ferrell's Funny or Die entitled "The Bensonhurst Spelling Bee" featuring Ripa, Consuelos, and their son, Michael. The video went viral and quickly exceeded 1,000,000 views.^[22]

Personal life[link]

On the set of All My Children, Ripa met Mark Consuelos — newly hired to play her onscreen lover Mateo Santos. After dating for a year, Ripa and Consuelos eloped in Las Vegas on May 1, 1996. On June 2, 1997, they welcomed their first son, Michael Joseph. The couple's second and third children, Lola Grace and Joaquin Antonio were born June 16, 2001 and February 24, 2003, respectively.

Filmography and Television Work[link]

Awards and Honors[link]

In 2007 and 2012, Ripa hosted the TV Land Awards to very positive reviews.^[23] She, herself, is an award winner, garnering five Soap Opera Digest Awards and three Daytime Emmy Award nominations for playing Hayley Vaughan on All My Children.

Ripa was also recognized for her work on the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade, which she co-hosted from 2001–2009, with the Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Special in 2006. She and co-host Regis Philbin also won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host for Live! with Regis and Kelly, for which they also received 12 Emmy Award nominations and 4 People's Choice Award nominations.

In 2008, Cowboy Mouth, a New Orleans, Louisiana-based rock band, honored Ripa by writing a song in tribute, entitled Kelly Ripa, that appeared on their album Fearless. The band performed the song on Live! on March 13, 2008.

On September 15, 2006, Ripa broke the Guinness World Record as twenty-four banana-cream pies were tossed at her mouth in one minute, as part of a Guinness World Record Breaker theme week on Live!. On September 16, 2011, Ripa broke the Guinness World Record for Most Grapes Trodden in 1 Minute, of 5.4 litres, as she extracted 8.4 litres. However, her competitor, Martina Servaty of Germany, extracted even more (8.6 litres), preventing Ripa from holding the new record.^[24]

The Broadcast Pioneers inducted Ripa into their Hall of Fame for her tremendous success in the television industry on November 19, 2010 and also honoured her as their Person of the Year.^[25]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	Film portal
	Television portal

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kelly Ripa

• Kelly Ripa at the Internet Movie Database
• [1], official website for Live! with Kelly
• Kelly Ripa in Page Six Magazine
• Kelly Ripa on Twitter

Josh Elliott
Elliott in 2010.
Born	(1971-07-06) July 6, 1971 (age 40)
Education	University of California at Santa Barbara Columbia School of Journalism
Occupation	Sportscaster, News anchor

Josh Elliott is a television journalist who is the news anchor for ABC's Good Morning America. Previously, he was co-anchor for the live telecast of ESPN's SportsCenter from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ET with Hannah Storm or Sage Steele. He formerly filed reports for SportsCenter, filled in as a co-host on Cold Pizza and ESPN First Take, and appeared on ESPNEWS programming.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Elliott was born on July 6, 1971. After attending Loyola High School of Los Angeles, Elliott attended the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he majored in English literature and worked for the university paper, The Daily Nexus. He then moved on to graduate school at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, where he earned his master's degree.

He worked in television as a producer for Galaxy Productions before moving onto 20th Century Fox. He began there in comedy development and later worked in physical production. After graduation from Columbia, Elliott worked for Sports Illustrated for six years, covering events in most major sports.^{[citation needed]}

He has a daughter named Sarina.^[1]

ESPN career[link]

Elliott on the set of SportsCenter

Elliott first joined ESPN in 2004 as a panelist for Around the Horn and Jim Rome Is Burning, as well as serving as guest co-host for Cold Pizza on ESPN2. On ESPN Classic, Elliott hosted the short-lived Classic Now, which aired from June 2005 to March 2006. He also started appearing as a co-anchor on ESPNEWS and reporting for SportsCenter. After Classic Now was canceled, Elliott began contributing to ESPN the Magazine and ESPN.com.

When ESPN began airing SportsCenter live every weekday morning on August 11, 2008, Elliott was paired as an anchor with Hannah Storm for the first three hours of the programming block beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET.^[2]

Good Morning America[link]

In May 2011, Elliott joined the team at ABC's Good Morning America following the departure of previous news anchor Juju Chang.^[3] He will also be a substitute anchor on weekend edition of ABC World News, debuting on May 21, 2011.

Other work[link]

Elliott received a local Emmy Award in New York City in 2005 for writing and contributing to Angles on MSG Network.^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Josh Elliott ESPN Bio

Trevor Bayne
Bayne in 2010
Born	(1991-02-19) February 19, 1991 (age 21) Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	175 lb (79 kg)
Achievements	2011 Daytona 500 Winner
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
23 race(s) run over 3 year(s)
Car no., team	No. 21 (Wood Brothers Racing)
2011 position	53rd
Best finish	53rd – 2011
First race	2010 AAA Texas 500 (Texas)
Last race	2012 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
First win	2011 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 3 0
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
84 race(s) run over 4 year(s)
Car no., team	No. 60 (Roush Fenway Racing)
2011 position	11th
Best finish	7th – 2010
First race	2009 Scotts Turf Builder 300 (Bristol)
Last race	2012 Royal Purple 300 (Fontana)
First win	2011 O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge (Texas)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 30 4
Statistics current as of May 24, 2012.

Trevor Bayne (born February 19, 1991)^[1] is an American NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series race car driver. He drives the No. 21 Motorcraft/QuickLane Ford Fusion for Wood Brothers Racing in the Sprint Cup Series, and the No. 60 Ford Mustang for Roush Fenway Racing part-time in the Nationwide Series.

Bayne began his racing career racing go-karts at the age of five. After eight years, he moved to Allison Legacy Race Series, where he became the youngest top rookie. Two years later, he moved to the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series Southern Division. In 2008, he signed a contract with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. to race in the NASCAR Camping World East Series, where he recorded one win, six top-five, and seven top-10 finishes. One year later, he recorded Sunoco Rookie of the Race honors after participating in the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway. Also in 2009, he began racing in the Nationwide Series for Michael Waltrip Racing. After about two years with the team, he moved to Roush Fenway Racing, at the late end of the season, and began racing in the Sprint Cup Series for Wood Brothers Racing. In 2011, Bayne won the Daytona 500, becoming the youngest driver to win the race at an age of 20 years and 1 day.^[2]

Career[link]

Beginnings[link]

Bayne was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in February 1991.^[1] He began racing go-karts at the age of five. He continued to race the go-karts for eight years, during which he recorded three World Championships with more than 300 feature wins and 18 total State and Track Championships.^[3] In 2004, Bayne moved to the Allison Legacy Race Series, where he became the youngest top rookie. In 2005, he became the series' National Champion. During the two years he raced in the series, he won 14 races, earned 19 pole positions and recorded 30 top-five finishes in only 41 starts. When Bayne was 15 years old, he moved to the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series Southern Division, in which he received the highest rookie honors. In 2008, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. hired him under their driver development program. During the same year, he began racing in the NASCAR Camping World East Series, and won his first race at Thompson International Speedway. Also in that season, Bayne recorded six top-five and seven top-10 finishes and finished fourth in point standings. One year later, he participated in the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway, where he received Sunoco Rookie of the Race honors.^[1][3]

Nationwide Series[link]

2010 Nationwide car

2009–2010: Michael Waltrip Racing[link]

Bayne made his first Nationwide Series start in 2009 in a joint venture between Means Racing and Dale Earnhardt Incorporated at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he finished in the 23rd position. He then signed a contract with Michael Waltrip Racing for a limited race schedule.^[4] In his first start for the team in the Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville Superspeedway, he qualified 2nd and finished 28th. During the 2010 season, he drove the #99 Out Pet Care Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing in 28 races before moving to Roush Fenway Racing.^[5] While with Michael Waltrip Racing in 2010, he recorded three pole positions, five top-fives and nine top-ten finishes.

2010–2011: Roush Fenway Racing[link]