Courtney Friel, the smart and sexy poker hostess on the fourth season of the World Poker Tour. Friel is actually an all around TV reporter and has previously worked as a correspondent for America's Most Wanted on FOX, E! News Live on E! Entertainment Television, and Trackers on the Oxygen Channel.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland on April 22nd, 1980, Friel grew up in a Philadelphia suburb along with her two sisters. Her early goal in life was to be a television weather girl, and she spent hours producing shows in Methacton High School’s TV studio. She was cast in a Love’s Baby Soft perfume commercial on MTV, and that helped land her a role on Kid TV, a news program seen in schools across the country, during their Student Produced Week.
The beautiful blonde joins WPT in Season IV as the glamorous guide through the exciting, action packed world of Texas Holdem. Friel will take her place alongside commentators Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten, illuminating viewers on the lifestyle of poker's best players and revealing tips and facts about the game.
Courtney doesn't have any experienced in playing poker but despite her inexperience, she is very willing to learn poker as much as possible, so that she knows it as well as she knows reporting. She is looking forward to interviewing the players and will no doubt win them over and tease them into giving her a few tips! It is undoubted that Courtney will be a great success as the new World Poker Tour host, and will have even greater visibility through modeling for gambling magazines and online poker rooms.
2005 was a big year for Courtney. She married her Husband, Carter Evans, who was working as a freelance News and Feature Reporter in the San Diego and Los Angeles markets. She was also hired as the host for Season IV of the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel, taking over for Shana Hiatt. She was well liked by both the players on the tour and the television audience. Although she had virtually no experience in poker, she attended a WPT Boot Camp, where she was a fast learner. She even won the first tournament she ever played in, a Boot Camp student tournament, where she bested commentator and professional poker player Mike Sexton. After one season as the WPT hostess, she moved on and was replaced by the Season 5 hostess, Sabina Gadecki.
Although she enjoyed her brief respite in the poker world, it was clearly just a stepping stone for her career. On her website biography, she mentions her work with the WPT only in passing, and focuses on her work as a broadcast journalist, where she has extensive experience for a person of her age. Her long term career goal was to land a spot on the big stage, with a national network, as a reporter or anchor. In 2007, Fox came calling, and she jumped at the opportunity.
Courtney Friel's Photos
