Until today we all have known Tavis Smiley the radio host, political commentator, philanthropist and author, but he is bringing a new phase to his life.. Tavis Smiley the dancer!!!
That is because Mr. Smiley will team up with pro ballroom dancer Sharna Burgess for the 19 season of Dancing With the Stars. with that said I wonder who will be in the audience cheering for Tavis? Any wife or girlfriend that we should know about?
49-year-old Tavis Smiley wаѕ born in Gulfport, Mississippi, аnd grew uр in Bunker Hill, Indiana. Aftеr attending Indiana University, hе worked during thе lаtе 1980s аѕ аn aide tо Tom Bradley, thе mayor оf Los Angeles.
He bесаmе a radio commentator in 1991, аnd starting in 1996, hе hosted thе talk show BET Talk (later renamed BET Tonight) оn BET. Controversially, аftеr Smiley sold аn exclusive interview оf Sara Jane Olson tо ABC News in 2001, BET declined tо renew Smiley’s contract thаt year.
Mr. Smiley thеn began hosting Thе Tavis Smiley Show оn NPR frоm 2002 tо 2004 аnd сurrеntlу hosts Tavis Smiley оn PBS оn thе weekdays аnd “The Tavis Smiley Show” frоm PRI. Frоm 2010 tо 2013, Smiley аnd Cornel West joined forces tо host thеir оwn radio talk show, Smiley & West.
Thеу wеrе featured tоgеthеr interviewing musician Bill Withers in thе 2009 documentary film Still Bill. Hе iѕ thе nеw host оf “Tavis Talks” оn BlogTalkRadio’s Tavis Smiley Network.
For a long time people has been feeling a bit curious about Tavis’ personal life, some people wonder if he is gay or straight, is he married, divorce, single or if he is dating.
For sure the most important female presence in Tavis life is that of his amazing mother Mrs. Joyce Marie Roberts, and his loving grandmother Big Mama.
The name of Denise Pines is quite important too, why? Denise, is indeed a very important person for Tavis, but not in the romantic way, she is not his wife, nor is she his girlfriend.
Ms. Pines is Tavis’ very close and dear friend, plus she has been his business partner for the past 15 years and used her skills as a marketer and financial planner to create a solid brand for The Smiley Group, Inc.
The other name we heard surrounding Tavis Smiley’s circle is that of Leshelle Sargent; some people talk about Leshelle Sargent, the lucky girl dating Smiley, she is a pretty gal, smart, but certain people are not quite liking her.
The people that I refer to think Leshelle is Tavis’ girlfriend, but her intentions are not sincere, but rather there is a purpose behind it, they think Ms. Sargent is using Tavis for power and will dispose him when he is longer a necessity for her career.
I really don’t think so, and to be honest I don’t think they are dating either or ever did. Leshelle Sargent’s story working along Tavis goes way back to 2008, more recently she worked for the Smiley Group as their public manager for 6 months last year, and was their communications associate for two years between 2008 and 2010, contributor producer for the Tavis Smiley Show, publicity and marketing manager with SmileyBooks.
I think their relationship was strictly a working relationship, probably working together for so many years brought rumors, she s single, pretty and he is for sure one piece of eye candy, but I’m pretty sure they are just great friends, but I can be wrong, feel free to prove it.
Let me tell you what I know about Leshelle..
32-year-old Leshelle Vernae Sargent holds a degree in Broadcast journalism from Texas Southern University (where she was crowned (Miss TSU 2005). Between 2006 and 2012 Leshelle worked with Music world Entertainment (marketing assistant), Tina Knowles Productions (Exec. Assistant), Public Radio International (contributing producer for the Tavis Smiley Show), Public Broadcast Service (unit publicist).
Last July, Leshelle Sargent landed a job at NBC universal, INC , she takes care of their media relations.
I haven’t heard of any other lady dating Tavis, just rumors like dating CNN’s Fredericka Whitfield, or that he was engage at some point.
this is just blah!! to me, we need facts to support a relationship. And we will continue to dig for those
in the meantime, we can wait and see if who shows up to bring her support to the handsome Tavis Smiley, a man of many talents, hopefully dancing will be one of those talents too.
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