Jill Suzanne Wagner (born ) is an American actress and television personality. She was the on-field host for the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

game show '' Wipeout'' from 2008 to 2014. Since then, Wagner has starred in several made-for-television films for the

Hallmark Channel The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies and ...

and

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Hallmark Movies & Mysteries (formerly known as Hallmark Movie Channel, and also known as HMM) is an American digital cable and satellite television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings. The channel was spun off from sister network Hallmark Chann ...

Early life and education

Wagner was born in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

. She was raised primarily by her father, David Wagner, a

U.S. Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

, and her grandmother. She attended

Ledford Senior High School Ledford High School is a public high school in Thomasville, North Carolina. It is part of the Davidson County Schools system and serves parts of Thomasville, Wallburg, High Point, Winston-Salem, and Kernersville areas. Administration *Princip ...

in Wallburg, North Carolina. Wagner went to

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

graduating in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in business management. During her teens, she trained at

Barbizon Modeling and Acting School Barbizon Modeling and Acting School is an international modeling and acting school headquartered in Tampa, Florida that provides instructional courses in the domain of modeling and personal development. History The first Barbizon School of ...

in Raleigh.

Career

After college, Wagner moved to California to pursue a career in entertainment. In 2003, she was selected as a cast member on the MTV series ''

Punk'd ''Punk'd'' is an American hidden camera–practical joke reality television series that first aired on MTV in 2003. It was created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, with Kutcher serving as producer and host. It bears a resemblance to both the ...

'', participating in several sketches. The following year, Wagner was ranked #90 on the ''

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment * ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...

'' Hot 100 Women of 2004. She was featured in the July 2006 issue of American ''

FHM ''FHM'' (For Him Magazine) is a British multinational men's lifestyle magazine that was published in several countries. Its master edition contained features such as the ''FHM'' 100 Sexiest Women in the World, which has featured models, actres ...

'' magazine. In 2006, she co-starred in the

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was o ...

television series '' Blade: The Series'' as Krista Starr. She was a co-host of ''

Inside the Vault ''Inside the Vault'' is an American news magazine television show hosted by Cris Collinsworth that focuses on today’s American man. The show debuted online on February 3, 2011, and February 4, 2011 on WGN America. After its first season no plans ...

'' on

WGN America WGN America was an American subscription television network that was owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and was the company's only wholly owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel in its final form under the WGN branding ran ...

. Wagner has also had guest roles on a variety of television series including ''

Quintuplets ''Quintuplets'' is an American sitcom that aired 22 episodes on Fox from June 16, 2004 to January 12, 2005. The program starred Andy Richter and Rebecca Creskoff and shared some of their experiences parenting teenage quintuplets. Synopsis The ...

'' and ''

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...

''. Her theatrical roles include '' Junebug'' (2005) and the horror film ''

Splinter A splinter (also known as a sliver) is a fragment of a larger object, or a foreign body that penetrates or is purposely injected into a body. The foreign body must be lodged inside tissue to be considered a splinter. Splinters may cause initia ...

'' in 2008. In March 2008, it was announced that Wagner would be the on-field host for the ABC game show '' Wipeout'' which premiered June 24, 2008. In April 2011, Wagner announced that she was leaving ''Wipeout'' after four seasons to focus on her acting career; she was succeeded by

Vanessa Minnillo Vanessa Joy Lachey (née Minnillo; born November 9, 1980) is an American actress, beauty pageant titleholder, fashion model, and television host. She was named Miss Teen USA in 1998. She has been a New York–based correspondent for ''Entertain ...

for the series' fifth season. In late August 2012, it was announced that Wagner would return as the co-host of ''Wipeout'' for its sixth season, a role she continued throughout the rest of the series' run. In June 2011, Wagner appeared on the series ''

Teen Wolf ''Teen Wolf'' is a 1985 American coming-of-age romantic fantasy comedy film directed by Rod Daniel and written by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman. Michael J. Fox stars as the title character, a high school student whose ordinary life is changed ...

'' airing on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. In 2013, Wagner appeared on

Rhett and Link Rhett James McLaughlin (born October 11, 1977) and Charles Lincoln "Link" Neal III (born June 1, 1978) are an American comedy duo. Self-styled as "Internetainers" (a portmanteau of "Internet" and "entertainers"), they are known for creating a ...

's third episode of their YouTube series ''The Mythical Show''; this was in response to an episode of their talk show ''Good Mythical Morning'', where they mentioned they had gone to college with a girl who had caught their interest, but never had the courage to talk to, who was revealed to be Wagner. In 2015, Wagner was tapped to host the original series ''Handcrafted America'' on INSP; the series began its third season in August 2017. Wagner appeared in the Canadian film ''

Braven ''Braven'' is a 2018 action thriller film directed by Lin Oeding and written by Mike Nilon and Thomas Pa'a Sibbett. The film stars Jason Momoa as Joe Braven, with Garret Dillahunt, Stephen Lang, Jill Wagner, and Brendan Fletcher. Principal photogra ...

'' (2018). Since 2015, she has appeared in

made-for-television films, including playing Amy Winslow on the ''

Mystery 101 ''Mystery 101'' is an American/Canadian series of mystery TV movies created by Robin Bernheim and Lee Goldberg. It stars Jill Wagner, Kristoffer Polaha and Robin Thomas. The series airs on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel in the United St ...

'' movie series on the

Channel in 2019.

Personal life

In April 2017, Wagner married former pro hockey player David Lemanowicz, after they had announced their engagement earlier in 2016. In April 2020, Wagner gave birth to a daughter. A second daughter was born in August 2021.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Playboy.com Interview (archive copy)

Interview at Talk Humor (archive copy)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Jill 1979 births Actors from Winston-Salem, North Carolina Actresses from North Carolina American television actresses American television personalities American women television personalities Living people North Carolina State University alumni 21st-century American women