Early years

Kelly was born in Panama City, Panama, of Irish and Italian ancestry, and raised in Port Jefferson Station, Long Island, New York. He graduated from Comsewogue High School in 1987. He attended Boston College and graduated with a degree in communications in 1991; he was president of Boston College's University Chorale. After college, he attained his master's degree in journalism, specializing in magazine publishing, from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in 1993.

Career

Magazines

Before joining What Not to Wear as co-host, Kelly hosted a program on Q2 (part of QVC) and worked as a freelance writer and editor at several publications in New York. Kelly was an editor at Marie Claire and a deputy editor at Mademoiselle, where he contributed under the pseudonym "Joe L'Amour". He later became the executive editor of the Daily News Record, a New York-based weekly men's fashion and retail trade magazine.

Television

While Kelly was at Daily News Record, the producers at TLC's What Not to Wear decided to recast the original male lead (Wayne Scot Lukas) and approached Kelly. After three auditions, Kelly was chosen as the new co-host, alongside Stacy London. He has described their relationship as "a brother and sister in the backseat of a car on a long car trip".

Kelly is openly gay, but in comparing What Not to Wear with the show Queer Eye—which pioneered gay men making over people seen as needing fashion advice—the Washington Blade noted some key differences: "nless you have your gaydar on while watching the show, you would have no idea. There's nothing 'gay' about the show and he doesn't really talk about it on air. Viewers trust Kelly's expertise based on the strength of his choices rather than on the 'he's gay and he should know' fashion theory."

In 2008, Kelly served as a guest consultant on the TLC reality series, Miss America: Countdown to the Crown. He assisted Mario Lopez during the live pageant telecast. Kelly became the moderator of the ABC daytime show The Chew in 2011.

Books

In 2005, Kelly and Stacy London co-wrote a book titled Dress Your Best: The Complete Guide to Finding the Style That's Right for Your Body. In 2008, Kelly wrote Freakin' Fabulous: How to Dress, Speak, Behave, Eat, Drink, Entertain, Decorate, and Generally be Better than Everyone Else. In 2010, he wrote Oh No She Didn't, telling the do's and don'ts of women's fashion.

Fashion

In 2007, Kelly wrote a weekly style column for "RedEye" in The Chicago Tribune. He is a national spokesman for Macy's and has a clothing line through QVC called Kelly by Clinton Kelly. In July 2008, his Extended Tab 5 Trousers sold out in seven seconds.

Personal life

Kelly is married to Damon Bayles. They were married in 2009 at their home in Connecticut.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]