Carnie Wilson
Encyclopedia
Carnie Wilson is an American
singer and television hostess, perhaps best known as a member of the pop music
group Wilson Phillips
.
and his first wife, Marilyn Rovell
, she co-founded Wilson Phillips
with her younger sister Wendy
and childhood friend Chynna Phillips
when they were in their teens. They released two albums, Wilson Phillips
and Shadows and Light, sold 12 million albums, and charted three #1 singles and six top 20 hits before breaking up in 1993.
Carnie & Wendy Wilson continued to record together, releasing the Christmas album Hey Santa! in 1993, and they joined with their father for a critically successful (yet commercially unsuccessful) 1997 album, The Wilsons
. She also sang "Our Time Has Come" with James Ingram
for the 1997 animated film Cats Don't Dance
.
In 2003, Carnie attempted to launch a solo music career with the album For the First Time. The album featured a remake of the Diane Warren
penned Samantha Mumba
ballad "Don't Need You To (Tell Me I'm Pretty)
," retitled "I Don't Need You To," as its first single. However, the single failed to gain interest and the album was ultimately shelved when Carnie regrouped with Wendy and Chynna as Wilson Phillips
in 2004.
Reunited, the band released a third album, named California, which appeared on Sony Music's record label. The album featured cover songs primarily from the 1960s and 1970s, and specifically highlights the musical glory days of their parents' California-based musical groups: The Mamas & the Papas
and the Beach Boys
.
In 2006, she finally launched her solo career, with an album of lullabies, A Mother's Gift: Lullabies from the Heart, created shortly after the birth of her daughter Lola.
She released her second solo effort in October 2007, a Christmas album entitled Christmas with Carnie
featuring a song written by her husband, "Warm Lovin' Christmastime."
Carnie!. The series was launched during the mid 1990s wave of popularity in "tabloid" talk shows
, which followed the sudden successes of Ricki Lake
and Jerry Springer
. Former Cosmopolitan Magazine Bachelor-of-the-Month Chris Greeley
was a guest on the television pilot
.
She later guest-starred on episodes of That 70s Show in 2001 and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
before joining the fourth season of the VH1
reality show Celebrity Fit Club
in 2006.
Wilson has also been a correspondent on Entertainment Tonight
and in 2006 hosted a special on E!
entitled 101 Celebrity Slimdowns. Wilson became a cast member of the CMT
series Gone Country in January 2008. In April 2008, she was a cast member of the VH1 series Celebracadabra
. In July 2008, she starred in a new show called Outsider's Inn
.
She hosted GSN
's new edition of The Newlywed Game
, which premiered April 6, 2009, until late 2010 when she was replaced by Sherri Shepherd
.
In addition, a reality show starring Wilson, Carnie Wilson: Unstapled
, began airing on Game Show Network on January 14, 2010.
In August of 2011 Carnie became a judge on the ABC reality show Karaoke Battle USA
. During her Wilson Phillips
fame she reached a lifetime weight peak of almost 300 pounds on her 5'3" frame. Her weight led her to be parodied on Saturday Night Live
by Chris Farley
and also publicly mocked by Howard Stern
.
Dieting was ineffective; she lost weight only to regain it later. In August 1999, she underwent gastric bypass surgery
, which she felt was a life-saving decision. The procedure was broadcast live on the Internet. As a result, she went from a size 28 to a size 6 and lost 150 pounds. In 2003, Wilson posed nude for Playboy
to display her new body. Carnie later toured TV talk shows and hosted her own infomercial
to publicize her satisfaction with the procedure. However, she eventually gained back some weight and ended up as a contestant on the fourth season of VH1's Celebrity Fit Club
in 2006. Over the course of the show, Wilson lost 22 pounds, which she eventually gained back.
In May 2008, Wilson was widely ridiculed for her weight gain and vowed to get back in Playboy shape, and hopefully pose nude for them again.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer and television hostess, perhaps best known as a member of the pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
group Wilson Phillips
Wilson Phillips
-Studio albums:-Compilation albums:-Singles:-Other charted songs:-Awards and nominations:...
.
Early life and musical career
The daughter of American 1960s pop icon Brian WilsonBrian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
and his first wife, Marilyn Rovell
Marilyn Rovell
Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford, née Rovell, is an American singer. She was a member of groups The Honeys and Spring with her sister Diane Rovell...
, she co-founded Wilson Phillips
Wilson Phillips
-Studio albums:-Compilation albums:-Singles:-Other charted songs:-Awards and nominations:...
with her younger sister Wendy
Wendy Wilson
Wendy Wilson is an American singer and member of the pop singing trio Wilson Phillips. She is the daughter of Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson and his first wife Marilyn, who was a member of girl group The Honeys; and she is the younger sister of Carnie Wilson.Wilson was born in Los Angeles,...
and childhood friend Chynna Phillips
Chynna Phillips
Chynna Phillips is an American singer and actress, known for being a member of Wilson Phillips. She is also known for being the daughter of The Mamas & the Papas band members John and Michelle Phillips and the half-sister of Mackenzie Phillips, Bijou Phillips, Jeffrey Phillips , Tamerlane...
when they were in their teens. They released two albums, Wilson Phillips
Wilson Phillips (album)
Wilson Phillips is the 1990 debut album by Wilson Phillips. The singles, "Hold On", "Release Me" and "You're in Love", all hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, while "Impulsive" reached the top five...
and Shadows and Light, sold 12 million albums, and charted three #1 singles and six top 20 hits before breaking up in 1993.
Carnie & Wendy Wilson continued to record together, releasing the Christmas album Hey Santa! in 1993, and they joined with their father for a critically successful (yet commercially unsuccessful) 1997 album, The Wilsons
The Wilsons
The Wilsons is an album by a short lived music group of the same name, consisting of Carnie Wilson and her sister Wendy Wilson, in collaboration with their superstar father Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys.-History:...
. She also sang "Our Time Has Come" with James Ingram
James Ingram
James Ingram is an American soul musician. He is best known as a vocalist. He is also a self-taught musician who plays piano, guitar, bass, drums and keyboards...
for the 1997 animated film Cats Don't Dance
Cats Don't Dance
Cats Don't Dance is a 1997 animated musical comedy film, notable as the only fully animated feature produced by Turner Entertainment's feature animation unit . The film was distributed by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment...
.
In 2003, Carnie attempted to launch a solo music career with the album For the First Time. The album featured a remake of the Diane Warren
Diane Warren
Diane Eve Warren , is a US songwriter. Her songs have received six Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, including one win and seven Grammy Award nominations, including one win. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001...
penned Samantha Mumba
Samantha Mumba
Samantha Tamania Anne Cecilia Mumba is an Irish singer and actress.Her first album was released in 2000. Her most notable role was Mara in the 2002 film The Time Machine. She has also appeared in a number of Irish independent films.-Early life, education and early career:Mumba was born in Dublin,...
ballad "Don't Need You To (Tell Me I'm Pretty)
Don't Need You To (Tell Me I'm Pretty)
"Don't Need You To " is a single by Irish pop singer Samantha Mumba. The single was released exclusively in the USA only. It was the third and final single from the singer in the USA. It was also the official second single to be released from the original motion picture soundtrack to Legally Blonde...
," retitled "I Don't Need You To," as its first single. However, the single failed to gain interest and the album was ultimately shelved when Carnie regrouped with Wendy and Chynna as Wilson Phillips
Wilson Phillips
-Studio albums:-Compilation albums:-Singles:-Other charted songs:-Awards and nominations:...
in 2004.
Reunited, the band released a third album, named California, which appeared on Sony Music's record label. The album featured cover songs primarily from the 1960s and 1970s, and specifically highlights the musical glory days of their parents' California-based musical groups: The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas were a Canadian/American vocal group of the 1960s . The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968 with a short reunion in 1971, releasing five albums and 11 Top 40 hit singles...
and the Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
.
In 2006, she finally launched her solo career, with an album of lullabies, A Mother's Gift: Lullabies from the Heart, created shortly after the birth of her daughter Lola.
She released her second solo effort in October 2007, a Christmas album entitled Christmas with Carnie
Christmas with Carnie
Christmas With Carnie is a Christmas album by American pop singer Carnie Wilson, released in 2007. The album contains one new song, "Warm Lovin' Christmastime", a duet between Wilson and her husband Rob Bonfiglio, who wrote the song.-Track listing:...
featuring a song written by her husband, "Warm Lovin' Christmastime."
Television career
From 1995-1996, Carnie hosted her own short-lived syndicated television talk showTalk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
Carnie!. The series was launched during the mid 1990s wave of popularity in "tabloid" talk shows
Tabloid talk show
Tabloid talk shows are a genre of American television programming talk shows that achieved peak viewership during the late 20th century. Airing mostly during the day and distributed mostly through broadcast syndication, this genre originated with The Phil Donahue Show and was popularized by the...
, which followed the sudden successes of Ricki Lake
Ricki Lake
Ricki Pamela Lake is an American actress, producer, and television host. She is best known for her starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray, her ground-breaking documentary film The Business of Being Born, and her talk show which was broadcasted internationally from...
and Jerry Springer
Jerry Springer
Gerald Norman "Jerry" Springer is a British-born American television presenter, best known as host of the tabloid talk show The Jerry Springer Show since its debut in 1991...
. Former Cosmopolitan Magazine Bachelor-of-the-Month Chris Greeley
Chris Greeley
Christian D. "Chris" Greeley is a former representative in the Maine state legislature. He is a Republican. He represented District 22 in the House of Representatives for four consecutive two-year terms, from 2002 to 2010, at which point he was prohibited from running again by term limits.He is a...
was a guest on the television pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
.
She later guest-starred on episodes of That 70s Show in 2001 and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (TV series)
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch is an American sitcom based on the Archie comic book series of the same name.The show stars Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman, a teenager with magical powers, who lives with her aunts Hilda and Zelda , and their magical talking cat Salem...
before joining the fourth season of the VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
reality show Celebrity Fit Club
Celebrity Fit Club (U.S. TV series)
Celebrity Fit Club is a reality television series which follows eight overweight celebrities as they try to lose weight.This show is based on the British version, which aired on the ITV Network from 2002 until 2006...
in 2006.
Wilson has also been a correspondent on Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
and in 2006 hosted a special on E!
E!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
entitled 101 Celebrity Slimdowns. Wilson became a cast member of the CMT
CMT
- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...
series Gone Country in January 2008. In April 2008, she was a cast member of the VH1 series Celebracadabra
Celebracadabra
Celebracadabra is an American reality television series on VH1 that premiered on April 27, 2008. The series involves celebrities attempting to learn and perform magic. Magician/actor Jonathan Levit serves as the host. On Thursday June 12, 2008 C...
. In July 2008, she starred in a new show called Outsider's Inn
Outsider's Inn
Outsiders Inn is an American half hour reality television show which is a spin-off from Gone Country, but created through the process known as retroscripting. The series debuted on CMT August 15, 2008, where it ran for eight weeks...
.
She hosted GSN
Game Show Network
The Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
's new edition of The Newlywed Game
The Newlywed Game
The Newlywed Game is an American television game show that pits newly married couples against each other in a series of revealing question rounds to determine how well the spouses know each other. The program, originally created by Nick Nicholson and E. Roger Muir The Newlywed Game is an American...
, which premiered April 6, 2009, until late 2010 when she was replaced by Sherri Shepherd
Sherri Shepherd
Sherri Evonne Shepherd is an American comedienne, actress, and television personality. She is one of five co-hosts on the ABC daytime talkshow, The View, as well as being the current host of the Newlywed Game and having a recurring role as Angie Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock...
.
In addition, a reality show starring Wilson, Carnie Wilson: Unstapled
Carnie Wilson: Unstapled
Carnie Wilson: Unstapled is an American reality television show, starring game show hostess and singer Carnie Wilson. The show aired on GSN from January 14, 2010 to March 11, 2010.-Overview:...
, began airing on Game Show Network on January 14, 2010.
In August of 2011 Carnie became a judge on the ABC reality show Karaoke Battle USA
Personal life
Wilson married musician Rob Bonfiglio in 2000. In April 2005, they welcomed their first daughter, Lola Sofia Bonfiglio. On June 12, 2009, their second daughter, Luciana "Luci" Bella, was born.Weight problems
Wilson has had a lifelong battle fighting obesityObesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
. During her Wilson Phillips
Wilson Phillips
-Studio albums:-Compilation albums:-Singles:-Other charted songs:-Awards and nominations:...
fame she reached a lifetime weight peak of almost 300 pounds on her 5'3" frame. Her weight led her to be parodied on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
by Chris Farley
Chris Farley
Christopher Crosby "Chris" Farley was an American comedian and actor. Farley was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1995....
and also publicly mocked by Howard Stern
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
.
Dieting was ineffective; she lost weight only to regain it later. In August 1999, she underwent gastric bypass surgery
Gastric bypass surgery
Gastric bypass procedures are any of a group of similar operations that first divides the stomach into a small upper pouch and a much larger lower "remnant" pouch and then re-arranges the small intestine to allow both pouches to stay connected to it. Surgeons have developed several different ways...
, which she felt was a life-saving decision. The procedure was broadcast live on the Internet. As a result, she went from a size 28 to a size 6 and lost 150 pounds. In 2003, Wilson posed nude for Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
to display her new body. Carnie later toured TV talk shows and hosted her own infomercial
Infomercial
Infomercials are direct response television commercials which generally include a phone number or website. There are long-form infomercials, which are typically between 15 and 30 minutes in length, and short-form infomercials, which are typically 30 seconds to 120 seconds in length. Infomercials...
to publicize her satisfaction with the procedure. However, she eventually gained back some weight and ended up as a contestant on the fourth season of VH1's Celebrity Fit Club
Celebrity Fit Club (U.S. TV series)
Celebrity Fit Club is a reality television series which follows eight overweight celebrities as they try to lose weight.This show is based on the British version, which aired on the ITV Network from 2002 until 2006...
in 2006. Over the course of the show, Wilson lost 22 pounds, which she eventually gained back.
In May 2008, Wilson was widely ridiculed for her weight gain and vowed to get back in Playboy shape, and hopefully pose nude for them again.