Brian Dunkleman Biography
Brian Dunkleman is an American comedian, actor and television personality. He is best known as being co-host with Ryan Seacrest on the first season of American Idol, in 2002. He also hosted the first season of American Idol.
Dunkleman began doing stand up comedy in 1992. Dunkleman won the title of buffalo’s funniest new Comedian. He has since performed at HBO’s US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen. He then appeared on NBC’s Late Friday, TBS’s Very Funny at the Laugh Factory, and The Tonight Show with jay leno
Dunkleman recently had his own stand up comedy special air on SHOWTIME. He has also made several guest starring appearances on popular TV shows such as Friends, NYPD Blue, That 70s Show, Ghost Whisperer, Las Vegas, and My Name Is Earl.
Brian Dunkleman Age
Dunkleman was born on September 25, 1971 in Ellicottville, New York, U.S. He is [agecalc birthdate=1971-09-25]
Brian Dunkleman Family
Dunkleman was born to proud parents of nine children, Les and Jane Dunkleman. Brian started doing stand up comedy due to a desire to have his parents address him by the correct name one day.
Brian Dunkleman Wife
He has been married to Kalea Nassif since 2007 and have a child together. The couple has filed for divorce and Brian considers himself single.
Brian Dunkleman Kids | Children
He has a son with Kalea, Jackson Dunkleman born in 2013.
Brian Dunkleman American Idol
Ryan Seacrest And Brian Dunkleman
Brian appeared as the co-host with Ryan Seacrest during the first season of American Idol in 2002. It was reported that Dunkleman had quit from co-hosting after the season ended.
Several news outlets later on said that he “had his career completely destroyed” for what he did, it later became enormously popular and made Seacrest very wealthy.
However, one journalist believes that Brian would have been fired had he not quit earlier. It was a fact numerous Idol staffers would eventually admit that he had submitted his resignation shortly before news of his firing could reach him.
Why Did Brian Dunkleman Leave American Idol?
During Brians 2008 appearance on the sixth season of the reality television weight loss show, Celebrity Fit Club where he lost 15 pounds, and won the grand prize together with his team, Dunkleman spoke about his reasons for leaving American Idol following its first season.
He then stated his departure was due to the terrible way they treated the young contestants on the show staging the fights between the judges and then reshooting contestants with producer-provided glycerin tears in their eyes. He went on stating that leaving the show was a mistake.
The Howard Stern Show
On The Howard Stern Show, Brian insisted that he intended to leave Idol to pursue a career in stand-up comedy and acting. He later in 2008 admitted to Stern that he believed leaving the show was a mistake.
He conceded that he experienced several months of depression, and also still harbored resentment against current show host Ryan Seacrest, but has however come to terms with his situation.
Stern has compared Dunkleman to Pete Best of The Beatles and several other famous celebrities who chose to leave or were forced to leave successful show business careers, only to later wind up as has-beens.
Dunkleman appeared on the American Idol fifteenth season and series finale on April 7, 2016.
What Is Brian Dunkleman Doing Now ?
Dunkleman does stand up regularly in Los Angeles at the Laugh Factory and The Improv. He also makes regular appearances as the host of Family Feud Live in Las Vegas and Atlantic City for Fremantle Media.
Brian Dunkleman Net Worth
The television personality and comedian has an estimated net worth of $500 thousand.
