Kiana Tom (born March 14, 1965) is an American
television host
A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garne ...
, fitness expert, model, author, former actress, and businesswoman. She is best known as the hostess and creator of ''Kiana's Flex Appeal'' on
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
.
Life and Career
Kiana Tom's name and fit body are internationally recognized as the Star of ''Kiana's Flex Appeal'', the #1 rated fitness show reaching 80 million homes in 100 countries on ESPN for over a decade. Tom was one of the original cast members of the syndicated program ''
BodyShaping
''BodyShaping'' is an American fitness and exercise television series that has shown on ESPN, with segments on weight training, cardiovascular exercise, stretching and nutrition. It was in production from 1988 to 1998, and has been in reruns ever ...
'', which aired on ESPN from 1990 to 1998.
In 1995, Kiana Tom created, hosted and co-produced her own fitness series, ''Kiana's Flex Appeal'', a lifestyle, health and fitness program on ESPN. Kiana has written & led tens of thousands of televised workout segments that have motivated millions of viewers toward a lifestyle of health & fitness.
Kiana put her Flex Appeal touch on the entire production including location scouting and selecting the most beautiful locations, interviewing and selecting co-production companies, choosing cast and crew, developing and creating show segments such as Home Gym, Pro Gym, Target Training, Aqua Flex, Fact or Fiction, and Did You Know…
Due to the program's initial high ratings, ESPN chose to develop other shows around Tom, including ''Kiana's Too Fit 2 Quit'', ''Summer Sizzle with Kiana'' & ''Hot Summer Nights with Kiana''. Tom has also hosted ABC
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
Nightlife, and has many other television hosting credits.
Tom had a brief stint as an actress, her first role being a cameo appearance in the straight-to-video ''
Cyber Bandits
''Cyber Bandits'' is a 1995 science fiction film directed by USC graduate Erik Fleming, with Visual Effects by fellow USC graduate Steven Robiner, and starring Alexandra Paul, Robert Hays along with lead Martin Kemp of the rock group Spandau Balle ...
'', which was released in 1995. In 1999, she acted in her second movie ''
Universal Soldier: The Return'' with
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (, ; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (, ), is a Belgian actor, martial artist, filmmaker, and fight choreographer. Born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, at the a ...
; she is a part of a research team. It is her only theatrical film appearance. According to the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' review of the film, the presence of the fitness guru compounded the physicality of the film. She also appeared in a cameo appearance with Eminem in the music video for "
Without Me."
Other work
Tom is a co-author of ''Kiana's Body Sculpting,'' a 144-page guide to improving fitness and strength, which was published in 1994. She is a recipient of the prestigious
United States Sports Academy
The United States Sports Academy is a private university focused on sports and located in Daphne, Alabama. It offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs as well as certificate programs. Founded in 1972, the academy has provided its ...
award for her contributions to the health and fitness industry. Tom was interviewed on behalf of the
President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
The President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition (PCSFN) is an American government organization that aims to "promote, encourage and motivate Americans of all ages to become physically active and participate in sports". It is part of the ...
at the inaugural
X Games
The X Games are an annual extreme sports event organized, produced and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, ...
in Newport, Rhode Island in 1995. She was also a
cheerleader
Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...
for the
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...
for two seasons.
She posed nude for the May 2002 edition of ''Playboy'' magazine.
According to one interview, she was such a perfectionist that she had to wait until the right time in her career where she felt her body was in the best shape it had ever been.
Personal life
Tom was married to Dennis Breshears, a Deputy Fire Chief for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, from 2002 to 2022. She has two daughters, Anelalani and Kiana Jr.
Her father,
Layne Tom Jr.
Layne Tom Jr. (born Richard Layne Tom, Jr.) (June 19, 1927 – January 14, 2015) was an American actor.
Career
He holds the distinction of having played three different Charlie Chan sons: as Charlie Chan Jr. in ''Charlie Chan at the Olympi ...
, was an actor who played various children (including Charlie Chan Jr.) in a number of
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Chan was conceived as an alter ...
films. He also appeared in films with Shirley Temple, in the movie ''Hurricane'', and was the Asian Boy Ranger in ''
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington''. Kiana's mother, Marilynn is a former physical education teacher, as well as a tennis, basketball and volleyball coach.
Kiana is part Hawaiian, Chinese, and Irish. Her name means "Island Princess" in Hawaiian.
Filmography
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tom, Kiana
1965 births
American cheerleaders
American exercise instructors
American exercise and fitness writers
Female models from Hawaii
American film actresses
American sports businesspeople
American television hosts
American women in business
American writers of Chinese descent
Businesspeople from Hawaii
Native Hawaiian writers
National Football League cheerleaders
Living people
Oakland Raiders personnel
People from Maui
Writers from Hawaii
Hawaii people of Chinese descent
American women non-fiction writers
American women television presenters
21st-century American women