Gretchen Wynnifer Massey Lukas (born 1969 in

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the fifth-most populous city in Virginia and 140th-most populous city i ...

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) is a

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-based radio host and performer. Her CBS Radio talk show 'CrackinUp w/ Gretchen & the Lukes' aired weekly on the Los Angeles station KLSX 97.1 Free FM every 'Fraturday' (their word for Fridays, 11pm-1am pacific). Gretchen had a long run at KLSX as a talk radio host of several different programs over many years up until the station changed to all music format on February 20, 2009. Massey has a history in entertainment of being an

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

and also as a

talk show A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (201 ...

host. In the past, she was lead host of the nationally syndicated radio talk show "Radio Girls" and was on 97.1 KLSK FM

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

station in Los Angeles, as co-host of "Lauren & Gretchen Uncut." Massey had a love of the

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

and performing from an early age and attended Dallas's Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. This love evolved into a long journey of writing and performing through many cities with various theater companies,

improvisational theatre Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...

groups and then as a stand-up comedian later in her life. She is well known for being one of the various presenters on the

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television show, Sexcetera.

''Big Brother''

She was the host of the

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'' Big Brother'' show '' House Calls: The Big Brother Talk Show'' that was broadcast weekdays on cbs.com, when ''Big Brother USA'' is in season. ''House Calls'' analyzed the goings-on taking place in the ''Big Brother USA'' house and game. Gretchen hosted ''House Calls'' with Marcellas Reynolds for its first two years. Due to Marcellas being part of season 7's ''All-Stars'', Gretchen was the sole host. Many assumed Marcellas would return to his co-hosting duties, but due to budget cuts he did not return to ''House Calls'' for its fourth season (aired during ''Big Brother 8''). ''House Calls'' was canceled after season 10.

Gretchen & the Lukes

Crackin-Up with Gretchen & the Lukes can now be heard on HotTalkLA. She is married to standup comic Mike Lukas (of ''

The Straight Dope ''The Straight Dope'' was a question-and-answer newspaper column written under the pseudonym Cecil Adams. Contributions were made by multiple authors, and it was illustrated (also pseudonymously) by Slug Signorino. It was first published in 197 ...

'' fame), her "Gretchen & the Lukes" co-host. "Gretchen & the Lukes" airs on the Los Angeles station KLSX 97.1 Free FM Fridays from 11pm-1am and on San Francisco-based 106.9 Free FM Sundays from 9pm-11pm. Although Gretchen and Lukas do acknowledge being married on air, they are pretending that they are not married to each other for the show, which runs contrary to some Mike Lukas interviews published before the show's debut, mentioning specifically that he just married his longtime girlfriend in her hometown of Dallas, and in addition, Mike Lukas's old personal homepage (miKeluKas.com—offline as of late December 2005) identified Gretchen (in name and photos) as his longtime love. Gretchen and her husband Mike Lukas live in Ohio and have one child born in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Massey, Gretchen 1969 births Living people People from Newport News, Virginia American game show hosts Mass media people from Dallas American radio personalities