What Is Brian Dunkleman's Net Worth?
Brian Dunkleman is an American comedian, actor, television personality, writer, and producer who has a net worth of $100 thousand. Brian Dunkleman is probably most famous for co-hosting the first season of Fox's "American Idol" with Ryan Seacrest. Brian started his career doing stand-up comedy in the early '90s and soon won the honor of Buffalo's Funniest New Comedian. Dunkleman appeared on the VH1 reality series "Celebrity Fit Club" in 2008 (losing 15 pounds) and was a member of the winning team, which also included Dustin Diamond, Tina Yothers, and Sommore. Brian wrote and produced the 2022 film "Dunkleman," which is described as "the story of Brian Dunkleman, who went from an unknown stand-up comedian to host of the biggest show in the history of modern television, 'American Idol,' to driving an Uber." As an actor, Brian has appeared in the film "Comedy Hell" (2006) and the television series "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" (1998–1999), "Dharma & Greg" (1999), "3rd Rock from the Sun" (1999), "Friends" (2000), "That '70s Show" (2001), "The Hughleys" (2001), "NYPD Blue" (2004), "Ghost Whisperer" (2006), "Las Vegas" (2007), and "My Name Is Earl" (2009).
Early Life
Brian Dunkleman was born Brian James Dunkleman on September 25, 1971, in Ellicottville, New York. Brian is the son of Jane and Les Dunkleman, and he has nine older siblings. Sadly, Les passed away when Brian was 11 years old.
Pre Idol
Before landing "American Idol," Brian guest-starred on "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" (1998–1999), "Dharma & Greg" (1999), "Jack & Jill" (1999), "3rd Rock from the Sun" (1999) "Good vs Evil" (2000), "That '70s Show" (2001), and "The Hughleys" (2001), and in the 2000 "Friends" episode "The One with the Ring," he played a jewelry store customer who bought the engagement ring Chandler wanted to buy for Monica.
American Idol
In 2002, Dunkleman co-hosted the first season of the Fox singing competition "American Idol" with Ryan Seacrest. He left the show after the season ended, and while competing on "Celebrity Fit Club" in 2008, he spoke about his reasons for leaving "American Idol," stating that he didn't like the way the contestants were treated.
That year Brian appeared on "The Howard Stern Show" and admitted that leaving "American Idol" was a mistake. In 2016, he was invited back to "American Idol" for the 15th season finale (the show's final season on Fox), and that's when he found out that producers had been planning on firing him after the first season. Dunkleman told "GQ" magazine, "They told me that I quit before they could deliver the news. I didn't know that. Did I have my suspicions? Did I see the writing on the wall? Of course I did. I'm not stupid."
Post Idol
Since leaving "American Idol," Brian has guest-starred on "Miss Match" (2003), "NYPD Blue" (2004), "Courting Alex" (2006), "Ghost Whisperer" (2006), and "Las Vegas" (2007), and he played himself in the 2009 "My Name Is Earl" episodes "Darnell Outed: Part 1" and "Darnell Outed: Part 2." He has appeared in the short films "Fellowship 9/11" (2004) and "Jesus V. Satan: Rise of the Zombies" (2020) and the independent film "Comedy Hell" (2006), and he has lent his voice to "Family Guy" (2001), "3-South" (2002), "Fairly OddParents" (2001–2003), and "Naruto" (2006). Dunkleman has also appeared on shows such as "Late Friday" (2001), "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (2002), "MADtv" (2002), "America's Next Producer" (2007), "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" (2013), and "One on One with Jasper Cole" (2020). Brian has regularly performed stand-up comedy at The Improv and the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, and he has hosted "Family Feud Live" in Atlantic City and Las Vegas. In 2021, he launched the podcast "Dunklevision," and his first guest was "American Idol" season one runner-up Justin Guarini.
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Personal Life
Brian married Kalea Nassif in 2007, and they have a son named Jackson. Dunkleman told "GQ" magazine in 2019, "Literally two weeks after the 'American Idol' finale in 2016, I took my three-year-old and fled my living situation, moving away from my then-wife." In May 2016, Nassif filed a petition for legal separation in which she accused Brian of being "almost constantly angry and/or volatile." Kalea stated in the petition, "He has picked me up by the shoulders and thrown me into a couch while Jackson watched. He has screamed at me, fist raised within an inch of my face, saying that he hates me; he has grabbed my arm, whipped me around and thrown me against a wall causing large bruises to my leg (of which I have a picture) just because I was leaving the house in the morning to meet a friend for coffee." The documents also said that Dunkleman had accused Nassif of being "abusive, an unrepentant alcoholic, a danger to both Brian and Jackson and in some sort of improper relationship with a drug dealer."
In January 2019, TMZ reported that financial documents relating to the divorce listed Dunkleman's occupation as "Uber driver," a job he began in March 2016. After TMZ posted the news, Brian tweeted, "I chose to stop doing standup comedy and started driving an Uber so I could be there for my son as much as he needed after our life as we knew it was destroyed. Print that." The financial documents showed that Dunkleman was earning around $800 per week, had $2,000 in checking, and was renting an apartment for $1,500 per month. In 2017, Brian began a relationship with Andrea Whitney.
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