Online Poker Sites
Poker Players
Poker Tips
How to Play Poker Basics
Poker Hands
Poker Terms
Poker Tells
Free Poker Games Online
Texas Holdem Rules
Texas Hold'em Games
Omaha Poker Scooping
Poker Tournaments
World Poker Tour
WSOP
Poker Stats
PokerTracker
Sharkscope
Calculatem
ThePokerDb
Official Poker Rankings
Site Map |
 The beautiful Courtney Friel
was the replacement for Shana Hiatt as hostess and spokesmodel for
the World Poker Tour television series. The actress-model-journalist appeared on all of the episodes during season four and
also appeared on a couple of the WPT DVD releases. Although she only worked for the WPT for one year, she was able to use it
as a stepping stone to bigger and better things.
Courtney was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 22, 1980. She grew up in suburban Philadelphia. She was interested in
journalism at an early age, and had hopes of being a television reporter or weather girl. As a child she would interview
friends and family members who were willing to play along. As a teenager, she attended Methacton High School in Norristown,
Pennsylvania, where she was involved with the school’s media program. It was here she got her first taste of television news
reporting, when she made an appearance on Channel One News, during a segment called Student Produced Week.
After graduating from high school, she enrolled at Elon University, in North Carolina. One year later, she left EU because
she was not satisfied with the media program. She decided to move to Southern California where she attended San Diego State
University and graduated with a BA in Political Science with a minor in Broadcast Journalism. While there, she had an internship
with MTV News, which led to several on-air appearances as a freelance reporter. She was also hired as a freelance reporter for short-lived
Trackers, A teen oriented television show on the Oxygen Channel. She also interned with the local NBC affiliate in San Diego (KNSD).
Once she graduated, she got a job as a reporter and anchor for the local news in Palm Springs, California (CBS Affiliate).
Her good looks and friendly demeanor led to numerous television appearances on several different channels, including spots
on Channel One news and the children’s channel, Nickelodeon. She also received on-air work as a correspondent for E! News,
Americas Most Wanted, and The Saturday Night Solution, a Court TV show focusing on an array of law enforcement
topics, from Forensic Science to Psychic Detectives. During this time, she was also hired by Lowes Theaters to host The
Movie Preview Show, which features coming attractions for movie theater patrons.
2005 was a big year for Courtney. She married her Husband, Carter Evans, who was working as a freelance News and Feature
Reporter in the San Diego and Los Angeles markets. She was also hired as the host for Season IV of the World Poker Tour on
the Travel Channel, taking over for Shana Hiatt. She was well liked by both the players on the tour and the television
audience. Although she had virtually no experience in poker, she attended a WPT Boot Camp, where she was a fast learner. She
even won the first tournament she ever played in, a Boot Camp student tournament, where she bested commentator and professional
poker player Mike Sexton. After one season as the WPT hostess, she moved on and was replaced by the Season 5 hostess,
Sabina Gadecki.
Although she enjoyed her brief respite in the poker world, it was clearly just a stepping stone for her career. On her
website biography, she mentions her work with the WPT only in passing, and focuses on her work as a broadcast journalist,
where she has extensive experience for a person of her age. Her long term career goal was to land a spot on the big stage,
with a national network, as a reporter or anchor. In 2007, Fox came calling, and she jumped at the opportunity.
She and her husband quickly moved to New York City, so that she could take a job as the next blonde bombshell at Fox News
where her duties include being an on-air reporter and anchor fill-in. She also became the face and host of FoxNews.com, the
Fox News website. She has made quite a splash at Fox, with her devastating good looks and her bubbly personality. Her on-air
antics have led to hysterical laughter and YouTube notoriety. She can be seen on various clips pulling a chicken cutlet from
her top, getting a pie-in-the-face during a circus interview, and comically commenting on horse anatomy. In addition to
providing the eye candy and comic fodder that Fox is famous for, she also has worked as a model, doing several magazine
photo shoots. Some of these photos are available at her web site, CourtneyFriel.com.
Also check out some Courtney Friel photos.
See also Kimberly Lansing |
