By Denise Smith
Amy Paffrath, the host
of the hit show on VH1, is a natural
performer who was born to entertain
and make people laugh. From a young age, she
would perform alongside her six brothers and
sisters in their grandmother’s basement. With
encouragement from supportive parents, what
started out as family fun at Grandma’s house would
lay the groundwork for this charismatic talent on
her journey to stardom.
Amy grew up in St. Louis, Missouri with a lot of
freedom as a kid. Her family lived in a cul-de-sac
and could walk to the neighborhood market or play
in the nearby creek. “We were the old school free
range children,” she laughs. Remembering the
pretty scenery and vast space, they slept with the
windows open and doors unlocked.
As you can imagine, the Paffrath household
was always loud. “If it was quiet, it meant that
everyone had gone somewhere without you ha-ha,
like in Home Alone when Kevin gets left behind.”
There was always someone to play with whether
it was putting on newscasts, plays, variety shows
with runway modeling and singing songs. The
siblings were inspired by the sounds of Debbie
Gibson and New Kids on the Block. A particular
favorite was a version of Under the Bridge by the
Red Hot Chili Peppers she performed with her
sister Christy. “We were just silly, but we were
encouraged to express ourselves, and we had a lot
of fun doing it.”
The actor is very close with her family and
loves them all dearly. Family is important to Amy,
and it is hard being so far away. This summer
her youngest sister, Brittany, will be joining her in
LA to attend college. With any luck, this will give
everyone more reason to visit: two-for-one!
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Amy attended the University of Missouri,
Columbia and majored in Broadcast Journalism.
Proud of her degree, she had visions of being the
next Katie Couric. “At the end of the day, I do love
acting and the variety my career in Hollywood
offers me.” Fond of gathering news, the actor
gravitates toward positive stories. Amy created
a podcast called, Tell Me Something Good that
focuses on all the positive things in the world. “I
think the more we share these stories, the better
the world will be!”
We talked to the actor about her time in
college and who inspired and encouraged her
to follow her dreams. She recalls the biggest
influence being, Stacey Woelfel. “Woelfel is an
incredible professor who cares about what his
students want in life and helps them achieve >>>
FITNESS
M A G A Z I N E || JUNE 2015 || EDITION 2