Biography of Leeann Tweeden

Born to parents of Spanish, Filipino, and Norwegian ancestry, Miss Tweeden grew up in Virginia as a self-proclaimed "Tomboy". After graduating from Osbourn Park Senior High in 1991, she pursued a career in modeling.

Upon moving to Colorado Springs, Colorado, she worked briefly as a Hooters waitress before winning her modeling job, gaining first place in the Venus International Model Search in 1992. From there, she traveled the United States doing promotional appearances and hosted the 1993 Venus Model Search competition, which she returned to host in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997. During this time, she relocated to Los Angeles, modeling for Fredericks of Hollywood, Hooters , Playboy magazine , and Playboy's Book of Lingerie, in the November/December 1994 issue. She also appeared in the video Edenquest: Pamela Anderson . In 1996, she landed a spot on the ESPN2 show Fitness Beach , as well as a layout in the August 1996 issue of Playboy magazine. In 1997, she was chosen as the model for the lead character in a No Mercy comic book, titled "Coven 13". She continued modeling for various magazines, including Playboy, and put out her first calendar in 1998, featuring the photographs of Mario Barberio.

Returning to the small screen, she became a regular on the half-hour Fox Sports Net/Speed Channel motor-cross show High Octane and also hosted Fox Sports Net's Bluetorch TV , an extreme sports show. In addition, Leeann was a correspondent for an installment of E!'s Wild On... series. She can currently be seen on The Best Damn Sports Show Period also on Fox Sports Net, and her pictorials can be found all over the Internet.

Leeann was born and raised in the Washington, DC suburb of Manassas, Virginia. Her dad and brother raced cars and go-karts while she was growing up, and her uncle was a track announcer. You could say she was born into a racing family. Leeann graduated from high school in 3 years at the age, of 16, and instead of going straight to college, Leeann wanted to follow her dreams of moving to Hollywood. She did so at the age of 18 and, once there, she was soon cast as a spokesmodel on Ed McMahon's famous talent show, Star Search , launching her television career.

In January 2002, Leeann became a cast member on FSN's The Best Damn Sports Show Period . This occurred after originally coming on the show as a guest, thus solidifying her in the world of mainstream sports. She frequently appeared on the panel with host and comedian Tom Arnold, as well as ex-pro athletes such as Michael Irvin, John Kruk and John Salley.

While appearing on this show, Leeann flew with the Navy's Blue Angels and skydived with the Army's Golden Knights. She learned what it was like to be a professional bull-rider and rodeo clown. After spending time at various NFL training camps, she learned how to play different positions from the pro athletes. And with Major League Baseball's best players at spring training, she learned how to throw a curve-ball and how to play the "hot corner". She's covered the Daytona 500 numerous times, as well as many Superbowls, World Series and the Kentucky Derby. Leeann also had her weekly "Best Damn Insider" segment that covered the inside worlds of sports and entertainment.

In 2005, Leeann moved part-time to Charlotte, NC to host the NASCAR lifestyle show, NASCAR Nation , on SPEED. For the show, Leeann interviewed the likes of Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx and Lisa Marie Presley, to name a few. She was hired due to her racing background and insight into the sport. While in Charlotte, Leeann proudly filmed a public service announcement, warning teens against the perils of drunk driving and brought relief items to people displaced from Hurricane Katrina.

In 2008, Leeann was the host of NBC's National Heads-Up Poker Championship . She also hosted the popular late night show, Poker After Dark , six days a week. Before moving to NBC, Leeann could be seen on the Fox Sports Network and has covered everything from mainstream and extreme sports to news and entertainment. She has won a Telly Award and, with her former show, "Mansionpoker.net Poker Dome Challenge", won a Sports Emmy. In 2011, Leeann could be seen hosting "Angels Weekly" for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball team and Fox Sports West. She was also a contributor to the "Angels Live" pre- and post-game shows. During this year, Leeann and local California businessman William Snell started their own non-profit organization called "Heroes & Patriots", to help wounded warriors and military families in need.

In October of 2012, Leeann Tweeden joined the cast of "UFC Tonight" on Fuel TV. She is once again teamed up with her old boss, George Greenberg, from her FOX Sports days at The Best Damn Sports Show Period . This is after filling in as co-host to Steve Edwards on KTTV Fox 11's Good Day L.A. morning show in August.

Leeann has also spent years modeling in Los Angeles before she auditioned for and beat out 30,000 other women for the ESPN workout show, Fitness Beach . The program was the number one-rated fitness show of its time, according to the New York Times. Over the years, Leeann has been the focus of numerous magazine covers and articles that range from health and fitness, to lifestyle, to popular men's magazines like Maxim, FHM and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

She's appeared on talk shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn and done radio appearances on "Loveline", "Adam Corolla" and "Howard Stern". She's often been invited to be a contributor to news shows such as Hannity , Scarborough Country , The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch , Your World w/ Neil Cavuto and Red Eye w/Tom Shillue . She is also frequently asked to write columns for different publications, and even had her own racing column in Stuff Magazine.

Leeann has used her celebrity status to help promote various causes including the USO, The Wounded Warriors Project, breast cancer research, The Special Olympics, and charities to help the children of fallen soldiers. She has done 16 USO Tours around the world, and has gone overseas to Iraq and Afghanistan to visit the troops on 14 different occasions. This includes almost every Thanksgiving or Christmas since the attacks on 9/11. She's traveled numerous times with Robin Williams, Kid Rock, Gary Sinise, Wayne Newton, John Elway, Matt Lauer and Jason Taylor, among others. When she is in Washington, DC, she visits the wounded warriors at the medical centers of Walter Reed and Bethesda. This is something close to her heart, as her father was an Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam.