Leeza Gibbons

Leeza Kim Gibbons (born March 26, 1957) is an American talk show host. She is best known as a correspondent and co-host for Entertainment Tonight (1984–2000) as well as for having her own syndicated daytime talk show, Leeza (1993–2000). In 2013, her book Take 2 became a New York Times bestseller and she won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Host in a Lifestyle or Travel program for the PBS show, My Generation. On February 16, 2015, Gibbons was named the winner of The Celebrity Apprentice; while on the show she raised $714,000 for her charity Leeza's Care Connection.

Leeza Gibbons was born in Hartsville, South Carolina, the daughter of Jean and Dr. Carlos Gibbons. Gibbons has two siblings – a brother, Carlos Jr., and a sister, Cammy. Leeza Gibbons grew up in Columbia, South Carolina in a housing subdivision called Whitehall, and graduated from Irmo High School. After completing high school, Gibbons graduated summa cum laude from the University of South Carolina's school of journalism and mass communication. She was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority at the university.

Gibbons's television career started at WSPA-TV in Spartanburg, South Carolina.^[when?] Next she was the co-host of PM Magazine for KFDM-TV in Beaumont, Texas^[when?], and then moved to sister station WFAA-TV in Dallas.^{[citation needed]} The new position represented a major career step and came with media attention.

In 1983, Gibbons joined WCBS-TV in New York City, where she became a host on Two on the Town, a program modeled after PM Magazine. Her co-host was Robb Weller. The following year both of them joined Entertainment Tonight, with Gibbons as a reporter and co-anchor of the program's weekend edition.

In the early to mid-1990s, Gibbons partnered with Guthy-Renker, becoming a trailblazer in the world of direct response. She was the first television star on a daily show to be featured in an infomercial, as she starred in Personal Power 2 and Get the Edge with a young Tony Robbins.

Leeza was her own NBC/syndicated talk show; it ran from June 1993 to September 2000. The show originated as John & Leeza from Hollywood, with former Entertainment Tonight co-host John Tesh. Tesh was dropped from the show after seven months, and Gibbons was the host for the remainder of the series.

In the 1990s, Gibbons hosted the radio show Blockbuster Top 25 Countdown with Leeza Gibbons. She counted down the hits in Adult Contemporary and Hot Adult Contemporary formats, and presented entertainment news and pre-recorded interviews. When Blockbuster Video stopped sponsoring the program in 1999, the show's name was changed to Leeza Gibbons' Top 25 Countdown. In January 2001, the countdown was dropped and the show was renamed Leeza Gibbons' Hollywood Confidential; the show continued until 2013.

In 1998, Gibbons received the Congressional Horizon Award (1998) for her work on children's issues^{[clarification needed]}.