Foodgod (born Jonathan Cheban; 21 February 1974) is an American

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

personality, entrepreneur and former

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for a work such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists who ...

. He has made appearances on the show ''

Keeping Up with the Kardashians ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' (often abbreviated ''KUWTK'') is an American reality television series which focused on the personal and professional lives of the Kardashian family, Kardashian–Jenner Stepfamily, blended family, airing b ...

'' and its spinoffs.

Early life

Cheban was born in

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in 1974, the only child of a real-estate agent mother, Galina, and a diamond-dealer father, Mikhail who died in 2011. He grew up in

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop the Palisades. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 40,191. As of the 2010 U.S. census, th ...

and attended

Fort Lee High School Fort Lee High School is a four-year comprehensive high school, comprehensive state school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school that serves students in ninth grade, ninth through twelfth grade, located in Fort Lee, New Je ...

before graduating from

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...

with a communications degree in 1995. Cheban is of

Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

background. Cheban was in a serious forklift accident at the age of 8, which resulted in him losing his front teeth and part of his tongue.

Career

Publicist

After graduation, Cheban began working for publicist Peggy Siegal at her firm in New York. At one point, music manager

Benny Medina Benny Medina (born January 24, 1958) is an American record executive, talent manager, and television producer. Early life and education Medina was born in East Los Angeles, California, of Dominican parents into a poor family. The death of hi ...

called Siegal to work on

Sean Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

' 29th birthday party. When Siegal rejected the offer despite Cheban's urging, Cheban accepted the job himself. Cheban left Siegal and formed his own

public-relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

firm with two other publicists. He left that company in 2001, and went on to found his own firm, CommandPR.

Reality television

Cheban first gained public attention with his appearance on the reality show ''

'', appearing as a friend of the Kardashian sisters. He subsequently appeared in several episodes of the show's spin-offs, ''

Kourtney and Kim Take New York ''Kourtney and Kim Take New York'' is an American reality television series that premiered January 23, 2011, on E! and ran for two seasons. The series followed sisters Kim Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian as they opened a Dash boutique in New ...

'', ''

Kourtney and Kim Take Miami ''Kourtney and Kim Take Miami'' (previously titled ''Kourtney and Khloé Take Miami'') is an American reality television series. It premiered on E! on August 16, 2009, as the first ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' spin-off. The series origina ...

'' and ''

Kourtney and Khloé Take The Hamptons ''Kourtney and Khloé Take The Hamptons'' is an American reality television series that premiered on E! on November 2, 2014. The series is the fourth spin-off show of ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'', following ''Kourtney and Kim Take Miami'', ...

''. In 2010, Cheban starred in his own reality show, ''

The Spin Crowd ''The Spin Crowd'' is an American reality television series on E! that debuted August 22, 2010. The series chronicles the lives of six employees who all work for a Hollywood public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managin ...

'', chronicling the lives of Cheban,

Simon Huck Simon Huck (born November 5, 1983) is the principal owner of the public relations firm Command Entertainment Group and a marketing executive who launched the sci-fi A. Human exhibition in 2018.Robertson, Adi“A. Human Is A Sci-Fi Fashion Show Abou ...

and their employees at his firm. The series' executive producer was reality-TV star

Kim Kardashian Kimberly Noel Kardashian (formerly West; born October 21, 1980) is an American socialite, media personality, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the sex ...

. It was canceled after one season due to poor ratings. Cheban's relationship with Kardashian has remained in the public spotlight. In 2012, Cheban made a short video spoofing himself as someone living in the shadow of Kardashian's fame. In January 2016, Cheban entered the ''

Celebrity Big Brother 17 ''Celebrity Big Brother 17'' was the seventeenth series of the Television in the United Kingdom, British reality television series ''Celebrity Big Brother (British TV series), Celebrity Big Brother'', hosted by Emma Willis and narrated by Marcus ...

'' house in the U.K., to compete as a housemate on its 17th season. He voluntarily left the show within days, which he finished 15th place. In 2017, Cheban appeared on the second season of U.K.'s "

Celebs Go Dating ''Celebs Go Dating'' is a British dating reality series. It began broadcasting on 29 August 2016 on E4, with the first series having 15 episodes. Paul Carrick Brunson and Anna Williamson currently appear as the dating agents, with Tom Read Wi ...

Other ventures

In 2008, Cheban launched his own clothing line, Kritik. Cheban also has designed jewelry for RichRocks. In late 2012, Cheban opened Sushi MiKasa, a restaurant in Miami. On November 24, 2013, Cheban also co-hosted ''Coca-Cola Red Carpet Live!'', a pre-show to the 2013 American Music Awards. In January 2014, Cheban launched a product called Glam Screen, which is both a protective cover for a smart phone, as well as a mirror. In 2014, Cheban launched TheDishh, an entertainment and life-style website that features what Cheban and his team consider to be the highest-quality foods, gadgets and entertainment. In February 2015, Cheban opened the

fast food restaurant A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically ...

Burger Bandit in

Lynbrook, New York Lynbrook is a village in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 19,427 at the 2010 census. History The area currently known as Lynbrook has had other names, inc ...

, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. In late 2019 Cheban launched the podcast ''Foodgod: OMFG!''

Personal life

In late 2012, Cheban began dating stylist Anat Popovsky after meeting her while filming ''Kourtney and Kim Take Miami''. Cheban signed on as a single man on the second episode of the seventh season of ''Millionaire Matchmaker'', which aired on December 12, 2013 on

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

. In October 2019, various media outlets announced he had changed his legal name to his social media handle, ''Foodgod'', after starting the process in January.

Filmography

References

External links

Founder of website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheban, Jonathan 1974 births American chief executives Hofstra University alumni Living people American public relations people 20th-century American Jews American people of Russian-Jewish descent Russian Jews People from Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee High School alumni 21st-century American Jews