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Joey Fatone

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joey Fatone
Fatone in 2016
Fatone in 2016
Background information
Birth nameJoseph Anthony Fatone Jr.
Born (1977-01-28) January 28, 1977 (age 44)
Brooklyn, New York City
OriginOrlando, Florida, United States
GenresPop
Occupation(s)Singer, actor, television personality
InstrumentsVocals, drums, percussion
Years active1993–present
Associated actsNSYNC

Joseph Anthony Fatone Jr. (born January 28, 1977)[1] is an American singer, dancer, actor, and television personality. He is best known as a member of the boyband NSYNC, in which he sang baritone. In 2007, he came in second place on the ABC reality show Dancing with the Stars. He was the host of the U.S. and Australian versions of The Singing Bee, which aired on NBC in the U.S. Fatone was also the announcer for the game show Family Feud from 2010 to 2015. Fatone previously hosted on Food Network's Rewrapped, Live Well Network's My Family Recipe Rocks, The Price Is Right Live! at Bally's Las Vegas and appeared as 'Rabbit' on the first season of The Masked Singer in 2019.

Early life and education

Fatone was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Joe and Phyllis Fatone. He has a brother, Steven, and a sister, Janine,[1] and was raised at 2140 84th Street in the Bensonhurst neighborhood,[2] His father had sung in a doo-wop group called the Orions.[2] At 13, he moved with his family to Orlando, Florida, where he attended Dr. Phillips High School.[3]

Career

After high school, Fatone worked as a performer at Universal Studios in Orlando, where he played "Wolfie" in Beetlejuice's Rock and Roll Graveyard Revue.[4]

NSYNC

In the summer of 1995, after befriending Chris Kirkpatrick, a fellow Universal Studios stage performer who was singing in a doo-wop group, he became the fourth member of NSYNC, along with Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez. Then Lance Bass was added to the group that would become NSYNC. In 2001, Fatone co-starred with *NSYNC bandmate Lance Bass in the Miramax film On the Line, he guest starred with NSYNC on a 2001 episode of The Simpsons episode New Kids on the Blecch, and also did voice work with Bass on the same episodes of Disney's Kim Possible and Adult Swim's Robot Chicken.

Post-NSYNC career

Fatone co-starred in the 2002 dramatic comedy motion picture My Big Fat Greek Wedding as Toula's cousin Angelo, appeared in the show My Big Fat Greek Life, and reprised the role again in the 2016 sequel My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2. He acted in the critically acclaimed movie The Cooler. He has had minor roles in both the experimental film Red Riding Hood and Homie Spumoni, the latter alongside Jamie-Lynn Sigler. Fatone has also been on Broadway, performing leads in Rent [5][6] in 2002 and in a revival of Little Shop Of Horrors.[7]

Fatone hosted NBC's The Singing Bee as well as the Australian version of the show on Nine Network. On August 21, 2007, it was announced that he, along with Lisa Rinna, would replace Joan Rivers and Melissa Rivers as hosts of TV Guide's red carpet pre-shows for the 2007–2008 season. His hosting duties with TV Guide continued for the 2008–2009 season.

In 2005, NBC contracted Fatone as the host (or "ringmaster") of its celebrity reality series Celebrity Circus. That year, he also guest starred in the Hannah Montana episode "Bye Bye Ball" as restaurant owner Joey Vitolo, a former baseball player who forces Hannah to sing in exchange for a replacement signed ball for her brother. Fatone went on to depict another baseball player on the Disney Channel series Imagination Movers in 2010. From July 6–18 of that same year, he also performed in the musical "The Producers" at the Pittsburgh Benedum Center in the role of comedic Nazi Soldier Franz Liebkind.

Fatone has lent his voice to several episodes of Robot Chicken, starring as himself in a kung fu skit called "Enter the Fat One" and having a vocal cameo in the show's Star Wars episode. From 2010 to 2015, Fatone served as the announcer for host Steve Harvey on the show Family Feud. In 2011, he took a job hosting the Live Well Network series My Family Recipe Rocks. In October of the same year, he also appeared in the horror film Inkubus.

In January 2012, he was one of eight celebrities participating in the Food Network reality series Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off.[8] Though eliminated in week six, he secured a $5,000 award for his charity, the Fatone Family Foundation.[9]

He appeared as a celebrity guest host for the show The Price Is Right Live! at Bally's Las Vegas. Fatone was also a guest on season two of Adult Swim's The Eric Andre Show. From May to June 2013, he played Bert in the Pittsburgh CLO production of 42nd Street.[10]

Fatone made a cameo in February 2014 on the hidden camera show Impractical Jokers, standing in for one of the show's stars, Brian Quinn, during a challenge. He later appeared as a guest in a 2017 episode, having given permission to film at his Orlando-based hot dog restaurant Fat One's. Since 2016, he has been the host or featured guest in specials such as "Nitro Circus Spectacular", "The Joker Games", and "Fantasy Draft". He has served as the permanent host of the spin-off series Impractical Jokers: After Party since its premiere in 2017. His relationship with the show's stars also earned him a cameo in the 2020 film Impractical Jokers: The Movie.

In April 2014, Fatone began hosting the Food Network cooking competition Rewrapped, where chefs must recreate classic snack foods and then create new dishes using said snack food. In August of the same year, Fatone became the host of another series, Parents Just Don't Understand, which aired on the Hub Network prior to its rebranding as Discovery Family.[11] He also guest starred in three episodes of The Jack and Triumph Show in 2015.

In 2019, Fatone portrayed the Rabbit on season one of the singing competition show The Masked Singer, tying with Rumer Willis for fourth place overall.[12] He currently serves as the presenter of Common Knowledge, a game show that premiered on January 14, 2019 on the Game Show Network.[13]

Dancing with the Stars

On February 1, 2007, the ABC television network announced that Fatone would participate in season 4 of the American version of Dancing with the Stars, which debuted March 19, 2007. He ended up placing second, losing the mirror ball to Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough.[14] He competed with professional partner Kym Johnson. Fatone participated in the 15th season of Dancing with the Stars for a second chance to win a mirror ball trophy,[15] again dancing with Kym Johnson. They were the second couple eliminated. He later returned in season 27 during Trio Week as a trio partner to John Schneider and Emma Slater.

Dancing with the Stars at Sea

In February 2013, Fatone appeared on Holland America Line's "Dancing with the Stars at Sea," aboard the MS Eurodam. He returned to Dancing with the Stars at Sea on Holland America Line's MS Nieuw Amsterdam in January 2014, alongside co-star .[16] He was paired with Lacey Schwimmer and appeared alongside Mark Ballas, Sabrina Bryan, and a dance ensemble. Unlike the TV show, however, this was not a competition and there were no eliminations.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

On October 18, 2009, Fatone attended the TNA Wrestling's biggest annual pay-per-view event TNA Bound for Glory and co-hosted the live pre-show alongside Jeremy Borash. This was not the first time Fatone has been linked to TNA, as he has been spotted at Universal Orlando where TNA tapes its weekly television program.[17]

NSYNC Performance

On August 25, 2013, the members of NSYNC regrouped for a one-off performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.[18] They performed a medley of "Girlfriend" and "Bye Bye Bye." After the performance, Lance Bass said that the group does not have plans at the moment for a reunion tour or new music.[19]

Personal life

Fatone met his wife, Kelly Baldwin, whilst they were still in high school in 1993. After joining NSYNC two years later, their relationship was off-and-on.

It was a much speculated rumor that Fatone had briefly dated singer Pink in early 2000, to which Pink stated, "[Joey] took me to Friendly's as a casual date, not like a date-date. I just wanted ice cream. We were in the friend zone." The singer has stated that although they did technically go on a date, it was more platonic and that Fatone was "a total sweetheart."[20]

After rekindling his romance with Baldwin, shortly after that same year, she became pregnant in the spring of 2000 with their first child, Briahna, who was born exactly a year after the release of NSYNC's hit sophomore album, No Strings Attached. They became engaged in the fall of 2002.

On September 9, 2004, Fatone married his high school sweetheart, Kelly Baldwin, at Oheka Castle on Long Island, New York, in a ceremony that was attended by all his NSYNC bandmates.[21] Fatone and his wife have two daughters: Briahna Joely, born March 21, 2001,[22] and Kloey Alexandra born January 2010.[23] Fatone's best friend, Lance Bass, is their godfather.[24]

Discography

NSYNC

Stage work

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2000 Longshot Pizza Chef
2001 On The Line Rod
2002 My Big Fat Greek Wedding Angelo
2002 Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones Jedi Cameo; deleted scene
2003 The Cooler Johnny Cappella
2006 Homie Spumoni Buddy
2016 My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 Angelo
2016 Dead 7 Whiskey Joe
2016 Izzie's Way Home Carl

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2003 My Big Fat Greek Life Angelo Episode: "The Empire Strikes Back"
2006 Shorty McShorts' Shorts Ricky 3 episodes
2008 Hannah Montana Joey Vitolo Episode: "Bye Bye Ball"
2010–2015 Family Feud Himself (announcer)
2014, 2016, 2017 Impractical Jokers Himself 3 episodes
2017 Celebrity Family Feud Himself Episode: "Boy Band vs. Girl Group"
2017–present Impractical Jokers: After Party Himself (host)
2019 The Masked Singer Rabbit/Himself
2019–present Common Knowledge Himself (host)

Music videos

Year Title Artist(s) Director
2016 "Irresistible" Fall Out Boy, Demi Lovato Wayne Isham

Dancing with the Stars

Season 4:

Week # Dance / Song Judge's scores Result
Inaba Goodman Tonioli
1 Cha-Cha-Cha / "You Should Be Dancing" 8 8 8 No Elimination
2 Quickstep / "Tell Her About It" 8 8 8 No Elimination
3 Tango / "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band" 8 8 8 Safe
4 Paso doble / "Collecting the Ballots" 10 9 9 Safe
5 Rumba / "Besame Mucho" 8 8 9 Safe
6 Samba / "A Little Respect" 9 9 9 Safe
7 Foxtrot / "The Way You Make Me Feel" 10 9 10 Safe
Jive / "Slippin' and Slidin'" 10 10 10
8 Waltz / "Always" 9 9 8 Bottom Two
Mambo / "Pump It" 10 9 10
9
Semi-finals
Foxtrot / "My Guy" 10 10 10 Safe
Jive / "Jump, Jive, and Wail!" 10 10 10
10
Finals
Cha-Cha-Cha / "Groove Is in the Heart" 9 8 9 Runner-Up
Freestyle / "Last Dance" 10 10 10
Tango / "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band" 10 10 10

Season 15:

Week # Dance / Song Judge's scores Result
Inaba Goodman Tonioli
1 Cha-Cha-Cha / "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" 6.5 7 7 Safe
2 Quickstep / "Creep" 7.5 7.5 7.5 Eliminated

References

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Joey Fatone". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on June 2, 2016.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "'N Sync Discusses Their Rise to Stardom". Larry King Live. CNN. January 9, 2001. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  3. ^ Manno, Adam (September 6, 2016). "'N Sync's Joey Fatone on hot dogs and his reputation as the 'Fat One'". Orlando Weekly. Florida. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  4. ^ "'NSYNC's Days to Forget". Orlando Sentinel. March 9, 2000. “Joey Fatone started out playing Wolfman in Beetlejuice Graveyard Revue…”
  5. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer (July 25, 2002). "Joey Fatone Finds Broadway 'Exciting,' But 'A Lot Of Work'". MTV News.
  6. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer (August 9, 2002). "Joey Fatone's Broadway Debut Earns Raves From 'Rent'-Heads". MTV News.
  7. ^ Gans, Andrew (May 13, 2004). "'N Sync's Joey Fatone to Join Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors". Playbill.
  8. ^ Rachael vs. Guy Celebrity Cook-Off: New Show Premieres This Winter. Blog.foodnetwork.com (July 29, 2011). Retrieved on 2016-02-27.
  9. ^ "Fatone Family Foundation – About". Fatonefoundation.com. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  10. ^ Pittsburgh CLO Summer Season Features 42nd Street, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Phantom and The Little Mermaid Archived May 6, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Playbill, Retrieved January 29, 2014
  11. ^ "Parents Just Don't Understand | TV Guide". TVGuide.com. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  12. ^ Stone, Natalie. "The Masked Singer Double Elimination! Rabbit and Lion Revealed During Semifinals". People. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  13. ^ "Common Knowledge". GSNTV. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  14. ^ ABC News (February 21, 2007). "Meet the New Cast of 'Dancing with the Stars". ABC.com. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  15. ^ Shira, Dahvi (July 27, 2012). "Dancing with the Stars All-Star Cast Revealed". People. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  16. ^ "Holland America Dancing with the Stars at Sea 2013–2014". Cruisespecialists.com. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  17. ^ "TNA Bound for Glory Pre-Show w/ JB and Joey Fatone".
  18. ^ "*NSYNC VMA Performance: Justin Timberlake's Boy Band Reunites For MTV Onstage Reunion". The Huffington Post. August 25, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  19. ^ "Lance Bass Says No *NSYNC Reunion Planned After VMAs Performance". The Huffington Post. August 27, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  20. ^ Celebretainment, By. "Pink recalls dating NSYNC's Joey Fatone". Celebretainment. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  21. ^ Correia, Roberta (June 9, 2016). "TBT: Reliving Each NSYNC Wedding, from Justin Timberlake to Joey Fatone, in Photos". Brides. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  22. ^ "Briahna Joely Fatone". MyHeritage.com. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  23. ^ Helling, Steve (January 14, 2013). "Joey Fatone Welcomes a Daughter". People. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  24. ^ Bass, Lance (2007). Out of Sync. New York, Los Angeles: Simon Spotlight Entertainment. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-4169-4788-2.

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Mario Lopez & Karina Smirnoff
Dancing with the Stars (US) runner up
Season 4 (Spring 2007 with Kym Johnson)
Succeeded by
Mel B & Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Retrieved from ""