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Shana HiattShana Hiatt is an American poker show hostess, and is best known for hosting the popular NBC’s Poker After Dark. She was born on the 17th of December 1975 and raised mostly in Tabarnacle, New Jersey. As a result of her father’s work in the US army, her family had to move a lot throughout her childhood. When Shana Hiatt was about 8, she became very interested in television. She would literally sit down and watch for hours. Especially, she would watch and scrutinize the news and the news anchors. At some point, she decided to Very early on, she had the ambition and the looks to get into modeling. And that’s just what she did. During high school Shana Hiatt seemed one of those very athletic kids, and was very active in playing field hockey and lacrosse. A nice side effect of that was that she was in prime condition. At some point when she was about 18 during college (she was enrolled at the New Jersey's Burlington County College), she caught the eye of famed agent of the stars Ray Manzanella. Manzanella’s clients have included Vanna White, Jenny McCarthy and even Pamela Anderson. Shortly hereafter, she would go on to win a local Hawaiian Tropic pageant, and in 1995 she would go on to be the Miss Hawaiian Tropic USA. Shana Hiatt was in the 1994 video The Girls of Hawaiian Tropic: Naked in Paradise released by Playboy, alongside other beauties such as Sung Hi Lee and Angel Boris, before appearing within the pages of the venerable magazine in April 1995. She was also the covergirl of the April issue. Playboy recognizes only the most beautiful girls, so that alone should speak volumes as to her physical appearance and overall beauty. Following her Playboy pictorial, she also did some minor muscle magazine work and some other small ads, such as the face of a suntan lotion company. At some point, Hiatt crossed paths with James van Patten, member of the prolific Van Patten Showbiz family. Every single Van Patten is somehow involved in the showbiz industry. James and Shana met while they were both attending a fundraiser in Hawaii to help fund shelters for battered women, and the couple fell in love. Not that long afterwards they tied the nuptial knot. The name Van Patten is probably very familiar to you. This is because James’ brother Vince is, alongside with Mike Sexton, co-hosts the famous World Poker Tour show in the Travel Channel. James then supported her passion: her dreams of being in front of the camera. And before you could say “cheeeeeese” got what she wanted. Of course, having tons of charisma was of great help to Shana. From 2000 on Shana Hiatt received bit parts in a few movies, a guest hosting job on E’s “Wild On” when the main hostess Brooke Burke was pregnant, and she also was the Keystone Light girl in 2002. But, her big break came in 2003 when she answered a casting call and landed the job would introduce her to the poker world, host of the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel. 2004 was her first appearance on the WPT. “It was a fun experience, because poker was so new to me,” says Shana. “I was thrilled to get the job so that I could learn more about the game.” Being the host of the WPT, she has traveled to many countries and cities all over the world, such as France, Costa Rica, Aruba, and Bermuda etc. She was also the official spokeswoman for PartyPoker, before Partypoker had to move out of the US market. Shana Hiatt hosted the WPT for three years until 2005 when she moved on to host NBC’s “Poker After Dark”. Many events had led up to this. Her marriage with James Van Patten was no more, and she had remarried in 2005 with Todd Garner who was the executive producer on many films, including Vin Diesel’s “XXX”, Cuba Gooding Jr.’s “Radio”, Jennifer Garner’s “13 going on 30”, and Kevin James’ “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”. In 2005 Shana also appeared on Maxim’s “Hot 100 of 2005” list. After leaving the World Poker Tour in 2005, Hiatt sued the producers in order to get a restraining order to prevent them from keeping her from working on a rival poker show on NBC, Poker After Dark. The WPT argued a non-compete clause was part of her contract, but Hiatt countered that she never signed it. The suit additionally revealed Hiatt left the WPT over a "hostile working environment" involving her new husband Garner. Only they would know exactly what happened, but it would seem easy to put two plus two together and realize that James (and by extension Vince) was not very fond of Todd’s presence. Her appearance as hostess of NBC’s Poker After Dark alongside Oliver “Ali” Nejad was also a smash hit. Shana Hiatt instantly became the talk of every poker forum along the world, and instantly fit between the other poker babes. She also hosted the NBC’s prestigious invitation-only National Heads-Up Tournament. After 2008, she took a break from the cameras because of pregnancy. Her hosting roles she had, NBC Poker After Dark and National Heads-Up Championship, have been taken over by Leann Tweeden. After that, she has taken a back seat in her roles, and has had no further appearances on any poker shows. Before her poker endeavors, she did not really do any actual playing. But afterwards she became an avid online poker player. Shana Hiatt also enjoys being active, participates in a ton of sports and also does yoga. All in all, Shana Hiatt is a true babe. She’s a bit withdrawn from the spotlight at the moment, but she will be back momentarily. Common misspellings: Shana Hyatt, Shanna Hiatt, Shana Hiat, Shana Hyat For more information on Shana Hiatt, see our Shana Hiatt Fan Site which includes more on Shana, news, modeling pictures, photos and more! Have you ever come across a confusing poker term? Our poker dictionary has 1218 definitions! Play for FREE and practice your game at...Would you like to submit your own poker article to be featured on FTR? You can by clicking here - Submit a Poker Article! Related Articles
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