Gretchen Wynnifer Massey Lukas (born 1969 in

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

) is a

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-based radio host and performer. Her CBS Radio talk show 'CrackinUp w/ Gretchen & the Lukes' aired weekly on the Los Angeles station KLSX 97.1 Free FM every 'Fraturday' (their word for Fridays, 11pm-1am pacific). Gretchen had a long run at KLSX as a talk radio host of several different programs over many years up until the station changed to all music format on February 20, 2009. Massey has a history in entertainment of being an

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

and also as a

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

host. In the past, she was lead host of the nationally syndicated radio talk show "Radio Girls" and was on 97.1 KLSK FM

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

station in Los Angeles, as co-host of "Lauren & Gretchen Uncut." Massey had a love of the

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and performing from an early age, and attended Dallas's

Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (BTWHSPVA) is a state school, public secondary school located in the Arts District, Dallas, Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States. Booker T. Washington HSPVA en ...

. This love evolved into a long journey of writing and performing through many cities with various theater companies,

improvisational theatre Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

groups and then as a stand-up comedian later in her life. She is well known for being one of the various presenters on the

Playboy TV Playboy TV (originally The Playboy Channel) is a pay television channel based in the United States. History The channel first launched on December 9, 1980, as Escapade by Rainbow Programing Services (a joint-venture of four cable companies, ...

television show,

Sexcetera ''Sexcetera'' is an American television series airing on Playboy TV. Formatted as a newsmagazine, the program focused on human sexuality. ''Sexcetera'' is repeated from time to time on Real Lives, Pick and Virgin1 in the United Kingdom, RTL 7 ...

Big Brother

She was the host of the

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Big Brother show House Calls: The Big Brother Talk Show that was broadcast weekdays on cbs.com, when Big Brother USA is in season. ''House Calls'' analyzed the goings-on taking place in the Big Brother USA house and game. Gretchen hosted House Calls with

Marcellas Reynolds Marcellas Reynolds is an American actor, author, entertainment reporter, and television host. His notable television appearances include ''Access Hollywood'', '' E! Live from the Red Carpet'', ''Good Day L.A.'', ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', and ' ...

for its first two years. Due to Marcellas being part of season 7's All-Stars, Gretchen was the sole host. Many assumed Marcellas would return to his co-hosting duties, but due to budget cuts he did not return to House Calls for its fourth season (aired during Big Brother 8). House Calls was canceled after season 10.

Gretchen and The Lukes

Crackin-Up with Gretchen and The Lukes can now be heard on HotTalkLA. She is married to standup comic

Mike Lukas Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

(of ''

The Straight Dope "The Straight Dope" was a question-and-answer newspaper column written under the pseudonym Cecil Adams. Contributions were made by multiple authors, and it was illustrated (also pseudonymously) by Slug Signorino. It was first published in 1973 in ...

'' fame), her "Gretchen and The Lukes" co-host. "Gretchen and the Lukes" airs on the Los Angeles station KLSX 97.1 Free FM Fridays from 11pm-1am and on San Francisco-based 106.9 Free FM Sundays from 9pm-11pm. Although Gretchen and Lukas do acknowledge being married on air, they are pretending that they are not married to each other for the show, which runs contrary to some Mike Lukas interviews published before the show's debut, mentioning specifically that he just married his longtime girlfriend in her hometown of Dallas, and in addition, Mike Lukas's old personal homepage (miKeluKas.com—offline as of late December 2005) identified Gretchen (in name and photos) as his longtime love. Gretchen and her husband Mike Lukas live in Ohio and have one child born in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Massey, Gretchen 1969 births Living people People from Newport News, Virginia American game show hosts People from Dallas American radio personalities