Brian Balthazar Biography
Brian Balthazar is a television personality who has worked as an executive producer and developer on a number of broadcast and cable television shows. He has appeared on numerous television shows and networks as a pop culture pundit, journalist, entertainment expert, and trend forecaster, including The Today Show on NBC, CNN, HLN, The Wendy Williams Show, VH1, TV Guide Network, and others, usually introducing himself as the editor of the website POPgoesTheWeek.com.
How old is Brian Balthazar? – Age
Balthazar was born Brian Balthaser in Honesdale, Pennsylvania.
Brian Balthazar Family – Education
He is the son of Theresa (née Dean) and state trooper Harrison F. Balthaser. After being cast in the title role of Oliver in a regional production of the show at the age of eleven, he became interested in theater. He attended Syracuse University to study speech communication after graduating from Honesdale High School (now referred to by the college as communication & rhetorical studies.) During his college years, he was one of the students who dressed up as Otto The Orange, the school’s mascot.
Brian Balthazar Wife – Spouse
He has not revealed his marital status thus, it is not known if he is married, dating, single, engaged, or divorced. Balthazar was named one of the top 50 most influential LGBT media figures.
Brian Balthazar Salary
He earns an annual salary of $1 million.
Brian Balthazar Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $5 million.
Brian Balthazar Food Network Kitchen
After working in food retail and catering for many years, Balthazar began sharing many of his cocktail and food recipes on social media and the websites DrThirsty and Snackist. The Food Network Kitchen App, which allows viewers to cook alongside chefs and cooks in real-time while asking questions and interacting with them, made him one of the faces behind it.
Brian Balthazar Standup
Balthazar enrolled in a standup comedy class during his time as a producer in order to force himself to perform onstage as a comic. He eventually began performing in nightclubs in New York City while producing during the day. Balthazar met and worked with Stacy London, the host of TLC’s What Not to Wear, while working as a producer on the Today Show. She was working on a late-night talk show called Fashionably Late with Stacy London at the time. Balthazar met with the show’s producers on her recommendation and became the show’s warmup comic, taping multiple episodes while continuing to produce for NBC. He went on to be the warmup comic for The Next Food Network Star’s season finale in 2008, as well as MTV’s Man and Wife with Fatman Scoop.
Brian Balthazar Career
Balthazar struggled with his career path in the early 1990s, working as a publicity assistant for a trance medium, a toll-free customer service agent, and a singing and dancing waiter, among other jobs. In 1999, he took an overnight writing job at Boston NBC affiliate WHDH, where he wrote 20-second news stories. Balthazar joined MSNBC as a producer in 2000, working out of the network’s headquarters in Secaucus, New Jersey. He was promoted to senior producer in 2001.
He left NBC in 2008 to oversee and lead the creative for several HGTV real estate and design shows, including Flip Or Flop, Love It Or List It, Christina On The Coast, and others. Balthazar began his on-camera career as an offbeat features reporter on MSNBC and NBC in the early stages of his career. He was an on-the-street satirical correspondent for Countdown with Keith Olbermann during the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He profiled Joan Rivers for the Today Show in 2006, taking her on a series of online dates. During 2006 and 2007, he made a few more appearances, mostly in taped segments.
Balthazar launched POP Goes The Week, a pop culture website, in 2009. He began appearing on The Joy Behar Show and Showbiz Tonight as a panelist as the site’s editor. He is a frequent guest entertainment reporter on MSNBC, and he occasionally appears on The Wendy Williams Show’s ‘Scoop’ segment. He was a regular on the Today Show’s weekend edition. Balthazar has appeared as a comic on TV Guide Network entertainment specials and as an on-the-street and undercover reporter on The Dr. Oz Show.
He hosted the HGTV television special I Bought A Famous House in 2012. He received positive feedback as one of the co-hosts of HGTV’s Rose Parade coverage in January 2018, where he served as the streetside reporter providing an up-close look at the parade floats and celebrities. He began flipping and renovating homes while working at HGTV, and his knowledge of home renovation and personal passion for design was featured when he co-hosted the Today Show’s fourth hour.