Chris Van Vliet
Chris Van Vliet | |
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Born | Christopher Van Vliet May 19, 1983 |
Occupations | |
Years active | 2005–present |
Website | www |
Christopher Van Vliet (born May 19, 1983) is a Canadian television/radio personality, YouTuber, professional film critic, and entrepreneur currently living in Studio City, Los Angeles.
He is an entertainment reporter for FOX affiliate WSVN in Miami on the show Deco Drive. Prior to coming to Miami, he worked at WOIO in Cleveland and was a radio personality on WDOK. He is also known for his work in his native Canada as the former co-host of the Sun TV show Inside Jam! and the co-host of Razer's (now MTV2) 969 program.
Van Vliet serves as a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association [1] and he runs a YouTube channel bearing his name where he interviews celebrities and wrestling personalities. He has worked for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a backstage interviewer on AEW Dynamite.
Education and early career
Van Vliet was born in Pickering, Ontario, where he attended Pine Ridge Secondary School. He attended Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, where he completed the university's communication studies program. While attending he held jobs at Rogers Community Television and AM570 News in Kitchener. His first on-air job was with CHEX-TV in Peterborough, Ontario, where he was a news reporter and videographer immediately following graduation.[2] He is of Dutch descent.[3]
969
Following his early days in Peterborough, Van Vliet eventually moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he was hired as a host and producer for Razer Television's (what would eventually become MTV2) 969 program.[4] 969 aired from November 2004 until it was cancelled in 2007. While there, he also hosted Razer News, a celebrity news program. In 2007, Van Vliet was voted as the third favorite Vancouver TV personality by the readers of TV Week Magazine.
Inside Jam!
Following 969, Van Vliet returned to Toronto where he co-hosted the program Inside Jam! with Tara Slone on Sun TV. While the program was initially an hour-long daily entertainment news program, on March 23, 2006, it was reported that the program was moving to a 1-hour Saturday format.[5] Inside Jam! has since been scaled down to a half-hour program airing Saturdays and Sundays.[6]
WOIO
In February 2010, Van Vliet announced on air on Inside Jam! that he would be leaving the show, having accepted a position as an entertainment reporter at CBS affiliate WOIO in Cleveland, Ohio.[7] In April 2010 he was voted by Inside Edition as one of Cleveland's hottest bachelors.[8]
In October 2011 he was named by Cosmopolitan Magazine as the Bachelor of the Year. He donated the $10,000 prize to The Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland.[9]
On June 2, 2012 Van Vliet won two Sports Emmy Awards for Best Host and Best Single Sports Story for his report on Gregory Iron, a professional wrestler from Cleveland who wrestles despite being born with cerebral palsy.[10]
On June 7, 2014 Van Vliet won his third Sports Emmy Award for Best Host.
WSVN
Van Vliet began as the entertainment reporter for WSVN's nightly program Deco Drive on January 5, 2015. On January 29, 2016, Van Vliet interviewed Leslie Mann and Dakota Johnson for the film How to Be Single. The interview subsequently became a viral video after the women spent the entire time hitting on Van Vliet.[11]
On June 27, 2015, Van Vliet won his fourth Emmy Award for Best Host. He has a total of nine nominations.
Outside interests
Bass fishing
In addition to his media work, Van Vliet also is involved with competitive bass fishing, having entered numerous Bassmaster and FLW Outdoors tournaments,[12] and even winning an Amateur Division Big Fish of the Day title when the Bassmaster Northern Open took place from September 12–14, 2013 in Sandusky, Ohio, with a 6-pound, 7-ounce smallmouth bass.[13] He also has recorded two overall top ten finishes in previous Bassmaster Northern Opens. He is the co-founder of the outdoors brand WOO! Tungsten.
Professional wrestling
Chris Van Vliet | |||||||||||||||||||
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YouTube information | |||||||||||||||||||
Channel | |||||||||||||||||||
Years active | 2011–present | ||||||||||||||||||
Genre | Interview | ||||||||||||||||||
Subscribers | 280 thousand[14] (January 18, 2021) | ||||||||||||||||||
Total views | 94.2 million[14] (January 18, 2021) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Van Vliet is an avid professional wrestling fan, having worked as an announcer for Cleveland-based independent promotion Prime Wrestling,[15] Blueprint Pro Wrestling in Deerfield Beach, Florida, as well as several companies in Toronto. He frequently conducts interviews with professional wrestlers from national companies such as WWE, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Impact Wrestling for his popular YouTube channel. He announced on July 29, 2019, that he had signed with AEW as a backstage interviewer for the organization's weekly television show AEW Dynamite on TNT.[16][17][18]
Awards
- Four-time Lower Great Lakes Emmy Awards recipient[10][19]
- 2011 Cosmopolitan Magazine Bachelor of the Year[20]
- 2012 Broadcasters Hall of Fame Personality of the Year[21]
- 2012, 2013 Society of Professional Journalists Best of Ohio Award recipient
- 2013, 2014 Ohio Excellence in Journalism award recipient
- 2013 Bassmaster Bass Pro Shops Northern Open - Amateur Division Big Fish of the Day (6lb., 7oz. smallmouth bass)[13]
References
- ^ "BFCA Member Directory". Bfca.org. Archived from the original on 2011-08-14. Retrieved 2011-05-25.
- ^ "Chris Van Vliet Biography on Inside Jam".
- ^ https://mobile.twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet/status/373100719551041536
- ^ Jesse Kohl (2008-07-17). "CTV rebrands Razer as MTV2". Media in Canada. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
- ^ "Sun down, Antonia Zerbisias, Toronto Star". Thestar.blogs.com. 2006-03-23. Archived from the original on 2010-03-14. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
- ^ Inside Jam! on SunTV schedule listing
- ^ Warmington, Joe. "Who do you like in Super Bowl?, Joe Warmington". Torontosun.com. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
- ^ Dawn Masenya (2010-04-20). "'Inside Edition' reveals Cleveland's hottest bachelors". cleveland.com. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
- ^ "2011 Cosmo Bachelor of The Year - Interview with Chris Van Vliet". Cosmopolitan. 2011-10-19. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
- ^ a b "NATAS Lower Great Lakes Chapter". NATASLGL. 2012-06-03. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
- ^ "Dakota Johnson and Leslie Mann Hit On "Hot" Reporter" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "Angler Chris van Vliet: Top Cosmo bachelor". 2011-10-27.
- ^ a b Egan, D'Arcy (September 15, 2013). "Mike Iaconelli wins Northern Open on Lake Erie; Joe Balog moves up to second". cleveland.
- ^ a b "About ChrisVanVliet". YouTube.
- ^ "PRIME Wrestling". www.primewrestling.com.
- ^ http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/news/310789/[VIDEO]-Dolph-Ziggler-to-be-Examined-Sunday-Before-the-Royal-Rumble.htm
- ^ "MJF interview gets interrupted by room service among many, many other things" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "TNA Champion Bully Ray Interrupts Local Newscast" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "NATAS Lower Great Lakes Chapter". nataslgl.org.
- ^ "Chris Van Vliet". Best Dressed Man on the Planet. September 20, 2013.
- ^ "BIO – Chris Van Vliet".