By RODNEY HO, originally filed August 20, 2010
Q100's Jenn Hobby subbed out for Kelly Ripa this morning on "Live with Regis & Kelly," one of four radio hosts who won a national contest to be on national TV.
She made no notable snafus and didn't seem nervous. As a guest host, she wisely let Regis Philbin take the lead, especially during the celebrity interview segments.
Wearing a modest dark blue dress with a black belt, Hobby gave her radio family major props by name. They even aired the moment last week when she found out she made it on Regis.
"We talk about our personal lives," she said. "We are invested in each other."
She said she first met Bert Weiss back in 2002, a year before he hired her to replace Lindsay Brien. (She didn't say it, but she started her radio career at the now-defunct 95.5/The Beat.)
She also told Regis how she met her fiance Grant Rivera, a principal, who was in the audience. Regis asked Grant about how American students are lagging behind others. Grant joked how his students are smarter than he is, adding, "We have to help them stay focused learning that there's life after high school. It's a great school." This seemed like a rather odd place to delve into America's education system so Regis moved on.
Jenn said she first met Grant when his school's band came into the studio after getting invited to be part of Pres. Obama's inauguration. "Their little geeky band members came in, and then their geeky band director came in, and then the gorgeous principal," she said. "Well, hello! How are you? Nice to meet you!" [UPDATE: Some folks below in the comment section were offended by her use of "geeky." We'll see what she has to say Monday on the Bert Show. I'll update this then.]
She said it was a year before they had their first date.
After promos and ads, it was time for the celebrity segments.
Hayden Christensen was notably forgettable promoting a movie. She kissed his cheek when he entered so Regis later joked, "The principal didn't like it. You might have to spend some extra time in school!"
Melissa Joan Hart, an actress promoting her ABC Family show, was livelier. She married a musician. (Jenn once married a musician, too, but that ended in divorce. She artfully chose not to mention that.) She did reference an Atlanta connection: she ran into Joey Lawrence shooting a film called "My Fake Fiance" here two years ago and that led to the sitcom they're doing now called, of course, "Melissa & Joey."
Hobby, a self-described foodie, wanted to do a cooking segment. She ended up hosting a "Firehouse Cook-Off" but didn't actually get to do any cooking.
Q100's Bert Show aired pretty much the entire hour with the show members inserting their comments. "She is really a natural," a caller said. The audio will be up on the Bert Show website.
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