Spartan Profiles: Kelli Zink

HOST FOR CELEBTV.COM

            Are Americans obsessed with celebrityhood?  Check out the traffic at CelebTV.com, which offers 24/7 coverage of celebrities like Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Brad Pitt, and you’ll get a clue.  Kelli Zink, ’02, host of CelebTV.com, notes that their videos—which are run by a plethora of online media outlets—receive some one million views per day.  “The public is interested in celebrities with whom they can identify,” says Zink, who performed as a cheerleader for two years at MSU.  “They are also into the hot reality show stars of the moment.  It changes with the climate.” 

            A native of Plymouth, Kelli chose to attend MSU because of the journalism program and because many of her friends also became Spartans.  “I loved MSU,” she says.  “I did a lot of different things and was part of many groups.”  Kelli joined a sorority, worked at a local pub, and interned at the local Fox television station. 

            As a cheerleader, she says, her highlight was riding in a firetruck with Mateen Cleaves during the championship parade after winning the 2000 NCAA basketball title.  “Mateen was really humble,” she recalls.  “I’ll never forget that.” 

            After MSU, Kelli landed a gig in “Beg, Borrow and Deal,” a reality show on ESPN.  She then got a sports broadcasting job in Indianapolis, then moved to Los Angeles for over three years to help launch the NFL network. “Steve Mariucci was an analyst for the network and he gave me a lot of fatherly advice,” she recalls.

            In Jan. 2007 she moved to Chicago to host CelebTV.com.  In that role, Kelli has emerged as one of the national experts on Britney Spears, as well as other celebrities, like Kim Kardashian of the reality show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians.  She is friends with the likes of former football star Marshall Faulk, controversial Chicago radio personality Mancow, and Oprah’s designer Nate Berkus.  Indeed, she is slowly emerging as a bit of a celebrity herself.