Karyn Elaine Bryant (born December 23, 1968) is an American actress, writer, and television personality.
Karyn Bryant | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Karyn Elaine Bryant December 23, 1968 Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, writer, television personality |
| Notable credit(s) | CNN anchor, MTV VJ, Showtime Championship Boxing Commentator |
| Spouse |
Wade Eck
(m. 2001; div. 2021) |
| Children | 1 |
| Website | www |
Early life
editBryant was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. While in Massachusetts, she completed secondary school at Lawrence Academy at Groton, and received a Bachelor's Degree[1] from Brown University with concentrations in political science and sociology. She is of Jamaican descent.[2]
Career
editBryant's love of music led to her first television job[1] in 1990, as an MTV VJ. She later hosted a live, daily music program on FX called Sound fX alongside Matt Ostrom and Orlando Jones. Jeff Probst replaced Jones toward the end of the show's run.
Bryant was chosen by TNT to host a series of entertainment vignettes called Rough Cut. The success of the vignettes prompted TNT to turn Rough Cut into a weekly television series hosted and written by Bryant. This marked the beginning of Bryant's professional relationship with Turner Broadcasting. TBS soon launched the wraparound series Movies, For Guys Who Like Movies, allowing Bryant to drive a U.S. Naval LCAC hovercraft, train with Marine snipers and engage in other activities. Lorne Michaels later picked Bryant to host his new daily VH1 game show, Name That Video in 2001; Bryant filmed 50 episodes.
After a brief stint hosting CNN's Talk Back Live, Bryant was chosen to co-anchor CNN's revamped Showbiz Tonight in 2004.[3]
Bryant, a Patriots and Red Sox fan, joined ESPN for their first live New Years Eve show as the countdown to 2006 began. That year, Bryant joined the Showtime Championship Boxing announcer team with Steve Albert, Al Bernstein and Jim Gray. In May 2008, Bryant was invited by CBS to join their Elite Xtreme Combat announcer team[4] for their new primetime mixed martial arts programming, debuting mixed martial arts for the first time on primetime network television May 31, 2008.[5] Bryant also co-owns MMAheat.com which covers most mixed martial arts sporting events. MMA H.E.A.T. (the show)[6] is a half-hour sports and entertainment podcast that Bryant writes and anchors ("H.E.A.T." stands for "Heart. Endurance. Aggression. Technique."). As of the end or 2018 she co-hosted most of the UFC Pre and Post shows on ESPN.[7]
TV appearances
editHosting
edit- Awake on the Wild Side – MTV
- Weekend Blastoff – MTV
- Buzzcut – MTV
- Like We Care – MTV
- Sound FX – FX
- Rough Cut – TNT
- Movies, For Guys Who Like Movies – TBS
- Name That Video – VH1
- Junkyard Wars – TLC
- For Love or Money – Reunion Special – NBC
- Showbiz Tonight (2005) – CNN
- ESPN's New Year's Eve Special, Live From Times Square, New York City (2005) – ESPN
- Showtime Championship Boxing (2006–2009) – Showtime
- Elite Xtreme Combat (2008) – CBS
- Cindy Crawford Meaningful Beauty skin care – infomercial
- MMA H.E.A.T. (2009–present)
- UFC Now
Recurring roles
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "The View from Ringside". Brown Alumni Magazine. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
- ^ Bryant, Karyn. "My mom is from #Jamaica. But apparently, those amazing running genes aren't for everyone... #Olympics #GuessImBuiltForComfortNotForSpeed".
- ^ "Press Releases- Newsroom". Time Warner. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
- ^ "Announcers Named for CBS EliteXC Saturday Night Fights – 2008-05-19 08:42:00 | Broadcasting & Cable". Broadcastingcable.com. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
- ^ "Frank Shamrock to head CBS MMA broadcast crew – Mixed Martial Arts- NBC Sports". Nbcsports.msnbc.com. May 20, 2008. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
- ^ "MMA H.E.A.T." IMDb.
- ^ "Lead FOX Studio Anchor Karyn Bryant Making the Move to ESPN". Mma News | Ufc News, Results & Interviews. December 22, 2018.
External links
edit