If you are a fan of those early and post-match debate shows, then you must have heard of the name Tony Reali. He is a well-known American sports personality who has acclaimed fame as the host of ESPN’s Around the Horn, one of the most engaged/ popular sports debate shows. But that’s not it, as Reali is also associated with some other hit shows like Good Morning America and Pardon the Interruption.
Tony Reali was born in Staten Island, New York, in 1978. He celebrates his birthday on the 4th of July every year. His birth name is Anthony Joseph Paul Reali. Likewise, his birth sign is Cancer. The TV show host has not revealed anything about his family life. However, it is known that he is of Italian-American descent, and he spent most of his childhood around the streets of Marlboro Township, New Jersey.
As for his academics, Reali first attended Christian Brothers Academy and graduated in 1996. After that, he enrolled at Fordham University for his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and History.
The 6-foot tall American sports personality plus TV host has managed to earn a huge sum of money from all of the jobs he had done in the past and from his current employment.
Speaking of the exact figures, Tony Reali has managed to accumulate a net worth of $2 million, as per some sources.
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The 42 years old television host is married to a woman named Samiya Edwards. He and his wife shared the wedding vows on July 3, 2008. After legalizing their bond, the couple initially lived in Washington, D.C., before settling down in New York.
As for the married duo children, Reali and Edwards were first blessed with a daughter named Francesca Zahra Reali. Later, in 2018, Reali's wife gave birth to twin sons, Enzo and Amadeo Reali.
Unfortunately, the married couple suffered a huge loss as one of their children, Amadeo, died during the moment of childbirth. During that grieving time, the Reali family was supported by their family members, friends, and colleagues.
The man who goes by the nickname of “The Ultimate Sports Guru” started his career in 1997, just a year after he graduated from Christian Brothers Academy. His first job was as a sportscaster for the New York-based WFUV 90.7 FM.
While working there, Reali was able to become the voice of Fordham football and basketball as well as the host of One on One, New York City’s longest-running sports call-in show. Alongside that job, he also used to write sports columns for different news publications.
Later, in July 2000, he left his previous jobs and joined hands with the very popular sports channel, ESPN. In his initial days at ESPN, Reali was associated with the quiz show Two Minute Drill, where he wrote and researched the trivia questions for the show.
After working there for a while, in October 2011, he got promoted into another show, Pardon The Interruption. In that show, he did the job of a researcher and corrected all the flaws committed by the two hosts, Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon. Due to that job, he got his first nickname, “Stat Boy.”
While working as a researcher for ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption, the Staten Island native also used to handle the role of a fill-in host and a guest panelist for the newly-debuted show, Around the Horn.
Later, when the original host of Around the Horn left his duties in February 2004, Reali was called-up to work as the permanent host of the show. Since that day, he has been proving his worth and has never given any chance for anyone to question his talents as a host.