Ananda Lewis (born March 21, 1973) is an American television host,
carpenter, former model, and social activist. She was an MTV veejay
from the late 1990s until 2001, when she left the network to host her
own broadcast syndicated television talk show, The Ananda Lewis Show.
She was a correspondent for The Insider from 2004 to 2005. She then
became a carpenter. She hosted the 2019 revival of While You Were Out
on TLC.Lewis was born on March 21, 1973, in Los Angeles, California.
She is of African American and Native American descent, specifically
of the Creek and Blackfoot tribes. Her name means "bliss" in Sanskrit.
Lewis's mother worked as an account manager for Pacific Bell, and her
father as a computer-animation specialist. Her sister, Lakshmi, is a
physician. Lewis's parents divorced when Ananda was two years old, and
her mother moved with her daughters to San Diego, California, to be
near her own mother. Her mother took an extended trip to Europe to
escape the pain of her failed marriage, leaving Ananda and Lakshmi
with their grandmother. During her absence, which lasted less than a
year, Lewis felt abandoned. She states:Lewis often fought with her
mother while growing up and rarely saw her father, who had remarried.
Lewis and her grandmother also frequently "locked horns" while she was
growing up.Lewis struggled with a speech impediment, stuttering until
she was eight years old. In grade school she earned a reputation for
outspokenness; her comments provoked her teachers' ire or, less often,
their amusement. In 1981 Lewis entered herself in the Little Miss San
Diego Contest, a beauty pageant, and won. During the talent portion of
the competition, Lewis performed a dance routine, which she had
choreographed herself, to Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney's ballad
"Ebony and Ivory." After her win, Lewis attracted the attention of a
talent agent and began working in local theater productions and on
television. In fourth grade she enrolled at the San Diego School of
Creative and Performance Arts (SCPA), a public magnet school, where
she remained for nine years. At the age of thirteen, Lewis began
volunteering as a tutor and counselor at a Head Start facility. Lewis
was inspired by the work and decided to become a teacher or a
psychologist, with the goal of helping young people. However, Lewis's
family urged her to follow a more lucrative career path specifically
law. She majored in history at Howard University, in Washington, D.C.,
from which she graduated, cum laude, in 1995.
carpenter, former model, and social activist. She was an MTV veejay
from the late 1990s until 2001, when she left the network to host her
own broadcast syndicated television talk show, The Ananda Lewis Show.
She was a correspondent for The Insider from 2004 to 2005. She then
became a carpenter. She hosted the 2019 revival of While You Were Out
on TLC.Lewis was born on March 21, 1973, in Los Angeles, California.
She is of African American and Native American descent, specifically
of the Creek and Blackfoot tribes. Her name means "bliss" in Sanskrit.
Lewis's mother worked as an account manager for Pacific Bell, and her
father as a computer-animation specialist. Her sister, Lakshmi, is a
physician. Lewis's parents divorced when Ananda was two years old, and
her mother moved with her daughters to San Diego, California, to be
near her own mother. Her mother took an extended trip to Europe to
escape the pain of her failed marriage, leaving Ananda and Lakshmi
with their grandmother. During her absence, which lasted less than a
year, Lewis felt abandoned. She states:Lewis often fought with her
mother while growing up and rarely saw her father, who had remarried.
Lewis and her grandmother also frequently "locked horns" while she was
growing up.Lewis struggled with a speech impediment, stuttering until
she was eight years old. In grade school she earned a reputation for
outspokenness; her comments provoked her teachers' ire or, less often,
their amusement. In 1981 Lewis entered herself in the Little Miss San
Diego Contest, a beauty pageant, and won. During the talent portion of
the competition, Lewis performed a dance routine, which she had
choreographed herself, to Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney's ballad
"Ebony and Ivory." After her win, Lewis attracted the attention of a
talent agent and began working in local theater productions and on
television. In fourth grade she enrolled at the San Diego School of
Creative and Performance Arts (SCPA), a public magnet school, where
she remained for nine years. At the age of thirteen, Lewis began
volunteering as a tutor and counselor at a Head Start facility. Lewis
was inspired by the work and decided to become a teacher or a
psychologist, with the goal of helping young people. However, Lewis's
family urged her to follow a more lucrative career path specifically
law. She majored in history at Howard University, in Washington, D.C.,
from which she graduated, cum laude, in 1995.
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