Shana Hiatt Main Page | Shana Hiatt Photo Gallery | Biography | The Poker Girl
Shana Hiatt was born in 1975 on the East Coast, and was raised mostly in Tabernacle New Jersey, near Philadelphia. Shana spent her early childhood years traveling around the country as an “Army brat” with her parents and one younger brother. Traveling would be a recurring theme in Shana’s life.
As a young girl, Shana’s future career was already being discovered. At age eight, Shana became very interested in television, She would sit in front of the TV for hours, watching newscasts and analyzing the broadcasters. Shana wanted a career as a television news reporter.
In high school, Shana would prove to be a stellar athlete. Shana was a champion lacrosse and field hockey player, not to mention the hottest school cheerleader!
After graduating high school, Shana enrolled in New Jersey’s Burlington County College in order to study broadcast journalism, pursuing her early childhood dream of television broadcasting.
However, at age 18, Shana Hiatt was drop dead gorgeous, and it wouldn’t take long for modeling agents to catch wind. Shana begain modeling part-time during this period, and was an immediate success. Shana secured the well-known and respected agent, Ray Manzella, the agent who made careers for Jenny McCarthy, Vanna White, and Pamela Anderson, and started her successful modeling career.
While attending a fundraiser in Hawaii to help fund shelters for battered women, Shana met her future husband, James Van Patten, brother of World Poker Tour commentator, Vince Van Patten, and son of Dick Van Patten from the television series, “Eight is Enough”.
James Van Patten, or Jimmy, encouraged Shana to pursue her interest of working in front of the camera, which Shana did and became a huge success.
At the time of this writing, she was married to Jimmy, and living in the San Fernando Valley (Southern California) with their two dogs, a Chihuahua named GooGoo and a cockapoo named Tyler, and their Siamese cat, Gemini.
Shana is a well-known television personality, who gets to travel all over the world covering the World Poker Tour events.
Getting to Know Shana Hiatt
Hobbies:
“I enjoy being active! I’ll go for a run, do yoga, ride my bike, walk my dogs, or play softball with my friends.”
– Shana Hiatt
Men:
“I like a real man. Not a pretty boy who looks in the mirror longer than me and who shaves his body.”
– Shana Hiatt
Drugs:
(When modeling in Milan) “I had never seen drugs in my life, not pot, nothing. I was at a club and this guy walks up and opens his jacket and he’s got all these little pockets. He pulls down a mirror, takes out a straw and is like, “Would you like some?” I ran in the other direction. ”
– Shana Hiatt
Wild in Vegas:
“My friend was getting married and she wanted to go to a strip club. They ended up lining the whole stage with chairs and the girls in the club came and gave lap dances. We were all doing shots and had to eat Wonder Bread so we wouldn’t get sick.”
– Shana Hiatt
Ever been the pursuer?
“It was St. Patrick’s Day at Penn State in a frat house. There was some green punch. It was somebody from high school who I never did anything with. I took him into the bathroom with me.”
– Shana Hiatt
Shana Hiatt the Model
At the early age of 18, Shana began to dabble in modeling. It didn’t take long for the part-time dabbling to turn quite serious. Shana was incredibly beautiful and secured the powerful agent, Ray Manzella, to represent her. Ray was well-known for helping launch the careers of Pamela Anderson, Jenny McCarthy, and Vanna White.
According to Esquire magazine, Ray Manzella has taken Shana on as a client and vows that in the next year, everyone in America will know her name.
Shana soon landed a modeling gig in Milan, which in turn led to other European modeling jobs on the runways of Spain and Paris, fulfilling some of Hiatt’s love for travel. Shana had become a successful international runway and fashion model!
Shana then returned to the states and continued her modeling career, and was crowned Miss Hawaiian Tropic USA in 1995.
This event would really change the course of Shana’s life in several ways. First off, as Miss Hawaiian Tropic, Shana made personal appearances around the U.S. for charitable work. While attending a fundraiser in Hawaii to help fund shelters for battered women, she met her future husband, James Van Patten.
But this pageant title also brought her more attention, particularly the attention of Hugh Hefner and Playboy magazine!! Shana was featured in Playboy, and on the cover of the April, 1995 issue of Playboy Magazine.
Shana Hiatt’s Playboy involvement did not end there, she became the star of the Playboy Video and DVD, The Girls of Hawaiian Tropic – Naked in Paradise, and is featured on the cover!
Among some of Shana’s other modeling achievements, she sported the cover of Muscle Media Magazine.
Shana also has a great layout in Stuff Magazine, which is affiliated with Maxim Magazine, and whose photo layout is among the thumbnails in the Shana Hiatt Photo Gallery (courtesy of Stuff Magazine).
In addition, Shana was a Keystone Light girl in 2002, these photos show her inside Stuff Magazine’s private jet (pictures courtesy of wireimage.com).
Since becoming the “Poker Girl”, Shana’s popularity has sky-rocketed, and Shana continues to be invited for photo spreads in popular magazines. Most recently, Shana has posed in the June 2004 issue of FHM Magazine.
Shana also had this picture taken in the July 2004 issue of Playboy Magazine.
Shana although an accomplished model, centerfold, and Playboy attraction, was really interested in a career in television.
Shana Hiatt Filmography
Having established herself as a successful model, Shana still had other ambitions. With the urging of Shana’s husband, James Van Patten, Shana focused on pursuing her career in television, having always been interested in broadcasting and reporting.
Hiatt had decided to work in entertainment news, which she thought was a better fit for her bubbly personality and warm demeanor than hard news coverage.
However, before find her niche as a television host, Shana took regular acting parts in television and on the big screen.
Shana Hiatt in “The Flunky”
In 1999, Hiatt played a role in the film, “The Flunky”, an off-beat comedy with a rock & roll theme, starring Stan Kirsch, Dean Stockwell, Larraine Newman, Jimmy Van Patten, Gina Lee Nolin, Farrah Fawcett, Gary Coleman, Bubba Smith, Alex Rocco, and Dick Van Patten.
Shana Hiatt in Aaron Spellings, “Titans”
Shana was also a dancer, and actually played the television role of a young exotic dancer working in a seedy strip club in Season 1, Episode 8 of Aaron Spelling’s production, “Titans.” This episode, named “Desperately Seeking Heather”, was produced in 2000.
Shana Hiatt in “The Fourth Tenor”
Shana landed several hosting roles, one of which was the “Making of the Fourth Tenor”. Shana also had a small role as a flight attendant in this 2002 film, “The Fourth Tenor”, starring Rodney Dangerfield.
Shana Hiatt in Other Roles
Other hosting roles included “The Baywatch Tennis Tour” and “Dish on Demand”, and roles in the movies Cupids (2003), and Bill the Intern (2003).
Shana Hiatt on E!’s “Wild On”
However, perhaps Shana’s most important television work prior to and leading up to the World Poker Tour, was securing a guest host position on the very popular television show, E! Entertainment’s “Wild On” series. Shana introduces the audience to South Africa in E!’s “Wild on Africa” episode, along with Brooke Burke.
In an interview with Card Player Cruises, Shana Hiatt was asked what the most exciting moment in her televesion career has been outside of the WPT.
Hiatt responded: “I told myself as a little girl that I would someday go to Africa. My dream came true last year when I had the opportunity to go to South Africa with E! Wild on Africa. I was a guest host on the show, and as such, I had many incredible experiences. I flew in an English fighter jet, was inches away from a great white shark off the coast of Cape Town, and stayed at the beautiful Mala Mala game reserve. The experience exceeded my wildest dreams!”
Shana Hiatt, Hostess of “The World Poker Tour”!
Her big break came along with the “The World Poker Tour,” and she is seen weekly on The Travel Channel every Wednesday evening, and again on Saturday afternoons. Shana acts as the WPT’s guide to the world of poker, introducing the audience to the exciting world of high stakes tournament poker and the exotic WPT locations. Now she indulges in her whim to travel, going with the WPT crew to Paris, Aruba, Las Vegas and other WPT destinations.
Shana Hiatt in Travel Channel’s Beach Week 2004
The Travel Channel must have been impressed with Shana’s television on-screen personality, because Shana Hiatt was invited to be one of the hosts of The Travel Channel’s Beach Week 2004 series!
Shana Hiatt, and co-hosts, Samantha Brown, Michelle Beadle, and Owen McKibbin will be guiding us through Beach Week 2004, starting Sunday, March 28, only on the Travel Channel.
The week long series will feature the following shows: America’s Favorite Boardwalks, America’s Best Beaches 2004, Beach Bites, Best Beach Resorts, World’s Best Beaches 2004, Islands For Rent, Florida’s Top Ten Beaches, Islands in America, America’s Best Beach Hotels, and the History of the Bathing Suit. Check out Shana at Beach Week 2004 on the Travel Channel.
If you’d like to learn more about Beach Week 2004, visit the Travel Channel Website.
Submit your review | |