Kelly Choi

Kelly Choi
Kelly Choi at the Tribeca Film Festival 2010
Born
Young Choi

(1976-02-07) February 7, 1976 (age 48)
Seoul, South Korea
OccupationTelevision personality

Kelly Choi (born February 7, 1976) is an American television personality on NYC Media, the official broadcast service of the City of New York.[1] A former host of Bravo TV's Top Chef spin-off, Top Chef Masters, she has also been presenter of the documentary series Secrets of New York.[2][3]

Early life and career

Choi was a preschooler when she immigrated to the U.S. with her family. Growing up in central Virginia, she Americanized her given name and, as Kelly Choi, received her bachelor's degree from the College of William & Mary and her master's in journalism from Columbia University in Manhattan. During and following her studies, Choi, who stands 5'10" (1.78 meters), was a model with Ford Models, won the Elite Models Look of the Year and worked as a VJ for MTV Korea.

Career

Choi made the professional transition to the New York area by hosting Freckles, a lifestyle program on the cable channel Plum TV, which is seen primarily in affluent vacation communities, in this case, the Hamptons in Long Island's Suffolk County. She entered the highly competitive New York media market after joining nyctv (now NYC Media), in 2004. Executive producers Arick Wierson and Trevor Scotland initially brought her to host the pilot episode for Secrets of New York. She subsequently went on to host three seasons of the series, nationally distributed by PBS, and developed Eat Out NY, another nyctv program in which, as the host/guide to the city's restaurants, she gained high visibility and popularity.

For a few months in 2006, as part of a unique content-sharing arrangement between nyctv and NBC's flagship station WNBC, Eat Out NY and Choi became popular fixtures of the Tri-State Region's noontime viewing. In 2007, she was invited as a guest judge on the Food Network's Iron Chef and selected to host the James Beard Awards, which are considered the "Oscars" of the food and restaurant industry.[4][5] In 2011, she was a host of Late Night Kung Fu, a weekly series that celebrates classic, English-dubbed kung fu films.[6]

Choi has received three Emmy nominations from the New York chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.[7][8][9]

See also

References

  1. ^ Feb 3, Surekha RatnatungaPublished; Feb 3, 2011Modified; 2011Share (February 3, 2011). "Kelly Choi, TV Personality". Gothamist. Retrieved January 1, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "Kelly Choi | TV Guide". TV Guide. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  3. ^ Millar, Bruce. "How Sushi Daily founder Kelly Choi came back from the brink". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  4. ^ Jani-Friend, Izzie (October 4, 2022). "Four fast, weeknight Korean recipes you can make at home". Metro. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  5. ^ "Without creates a cross-cultural brand identity for new Asian food line Kelly Loves". Creative Boom. July 17, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  6. ^ "'Secrets of New York' host Kelly Choi likes digging deep into forgotten stories of the city". New York Daily News. June 21, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  7. ^ "49th Annual New York Emmy Awards" (PDF). The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, New York Chapter. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2007. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
  8. ^ "51st Annual New York Emmy Awards" (PDF). The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, New York Chapter. February 7, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 25, 2011. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
  9. ^ "52nd Annual New York Emmy Awards" (PDF). The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, New York Chapter. February 12, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 25, 2011. Retrieved May 11, 2009.