Rinna to Ride the Red Carpet for TV Guide Channel
Actress, TV Host, Fashion Entrepreneur Succeeds Joan and Melissa Rivers
By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 4/18/2007 2:46:00 PM
TV Guide Channel rolled out the red carpet to Lisa Rinna.
Through a multiyear deal, the actress, TV host and fashion entrepreneur will head the network’s coverage of red-carpet preshow events beginning with the Emmy Awards Sept. 16.
Rinna succeeds Joan and Melissa Rivers, who launched TV Guide’s coverage of these events in January 2005. The mother/daughter team’s contract with the network expired.
Under the agreement, Rinna -- who has racked up Emmy nominations for her work as co-host on SOAPnet’s Soap Talk -- will host a quintet of preshows annually, as well as five fashion recaps at the Emmys, Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
TV Guide Channel president Ryan O’Hara said the network began talking to Rinna in February and believes she’s the “perfect fit for our air. She’s incredible, fun and beautiful.”
Not to mention fashion-centric: Rinna owns Belle Gray, a women’s clothing boutique based in Sherman Oaks and Calabasas, Calif., and online.
“[Owning the business] certainly gives me an eye and, hopefully, an edge toward fashion. I know it, live it, sell it,” Rinna said. “I’m going to give my opinion, what I like and don’t like. I know the designers pretty well. It’s going to be exciting to talk about the award shows and fashion.”
Rinna already has red-carpet chops: She worked on Access Hollywood’s coverage for the Emmys, Oscars and Globes.
