Richard Adam Matthew Campanelli (born January 5, 1970) is a Canadian television and radio personality known for his work as a VJ and host for

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

and for co-hosting ''

ET Canada ''Entertainment Tonight Canada'' (commonly shortened to ''ET Canada'') is a Canadian entertainment news television series that aired on the Global Television Network from 2005 to 2023. Its branding and format were based on the American entertainm ...

''. He joined

CIDC-FM CIDC-FM (103.5 FM, "Z103.5") is a radio station licensed to Orangeville, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Evanov Communications, the station broadcasts a rhythmic contemporary format targeting the Greater Toronto Area. Its studios are located on D ...

in November 2021, and was co-host of the morning show until December 2022, when he left the station. In 2024, he joined

CHFI-FM CHFI-FM (98.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned and operated by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, it broadcasts an Adult contemporary format. The studios are in the Rogers Building on th ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

as an afternoon host. In 2025 he joined

Citytv Citytv (sometimes shortened to City, which was the network's official branding from 2012 to 2018) is a Television in Canada, Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consis ...

's ''

Breakfast Television Breakfast television (Europe and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news broadcasting, news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts Live television, live in the morning (typically broadcast pro ...

'' as a live eye reporter, leaving the weekday shift on CHFI but retaining a Sunday morning show on the station.

Life and career

Campanelli is a native of

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, and grew up in a working class Italian-Canadian family. He is the youngest of four siblings in a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

family. Campanelli attended school in St. Catharines. He attended

Brock University Brock University is a public university, public research university in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is the only university in Canada in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, at the centre of Canada's Niagara Peninsula on the Niagara Escarpment. The ...

, earning a degree in

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

. Campanelli was introduced to the MuchMusic viewers as the winner of

's 1994 MuchTemp contest. Originally he was nicknamed "The Temp" (or, famously, "Rick the Temp"). Campanelli has since been labeled "The Franchise" for his long tenure and high popularity while on MuchMusic. In addition to being a

video jockey A video jockey (abbreviated VJ or sometimes veejay) is an announcer or host who introduces music videos and live performances on commercial music television channels such as MTV, VH1, Much (TV channel), MuchMusic and Channel V. Origins The term " ...

, he also co-hosted '' Much on Demand'', '' The MuchMusic Countdown'' and ''The MuchMusic Radio Countdown''. Campanelli's final appearance on MuchMusic was August 26, 2005, on ''MuchOnDemand''. He was subsequently announced as one of the reporters for ''

'', a new Canadian licensee of ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...

'', which was launched on September 12, 2005. In early 2007, Campanelli hosted the ''Canada's Case Game'' segments on

Global Global may refer to: General *Globe, a spherical model of celestial bodies *Earth, the third planet from the Sun Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 198 ...

's '' Deal or No Deal Canada'', during that series' first limited run. Campanelli is involved with several charitable organizations including World Vision Canada, Tuberous Sclerosis, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, McMaster Children's Hospital, and

Kids Help Phone Kids Help Phone () is a Canadian charitable organization that provides online and telephone counselling and volunteer-led, text-based support in English and French to youth across Canada. Kids Help Phone also provides information on how to acc ...

. On May 27, 2009, he hosted the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative in

. In February 2016, Toronto radio station

CFNY-FM CFNY-FM (102.1 Hertz, MHz, "102.1 The Edge") is a radio station city of license, licensed to Brampton, Ontario. Owned by Corus Entertainment, the station broadcasts a modern rock format serving the Greater Toronto Area. Its studios are in Downtow ...

announced that Campanelli would join the station as co-host with Fred Kennedy and Melanie Mariani of the station's morning show, beginning June 27. Later that year, he made a cameo appearance in the music video for

James Barker Band The James Barker Band is a Canadian country group formed in Woodville, Ontario in 2013. The band consists of James Barker, Taylor Abram, Connor Stephen, and Bobby Martin. In Canada, they have six number one country singles with "Chills (James Bark ...

's " Just Sayin'". In July 2017, it was announced that Campanelli would depart as co-host of ''ET Canada'' after 12 years when his contract ended in summer 2017. He appeared on ''ET Canada'' through August 2017. In 2021, it was announced that Campanelli would join his former MuchMusic colleague Monika Deol to co-host 90's Nostalgia, a five-city Canadian concert tour featuring such artists as Aqua and

Eiffel 65 Eiffel 65 are an Italian Eurodance group formed in 1997 in the studios of the Turin based record company Bliss Corporation. The group consists of Jeffrey Jey, Maurizio Lobina, and formerly Gabry Ponte. They gained global popularity with their ...

. Campanelli discussed this role during a visit to the Toronto Mike'd Podcast. In 2023, Campanelli competed on the first season of ''

The Traitors Canada ''The Traitors Canada'' is a Canadian reality television series, that is based on the Dutch series ''De Verraders''. It is hosted by the French Canadians, French-Canadian actress Karine Vanasse. Following the premise of the previous versions of ...

'', where he played as a Faithful. He was banished by his fellow castmates in the fifth episode.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Campanelli, Rick 1970 births Brock University alumni Canadian people of Italian descent Canadian television hosts Living people Much (TV channel) personalities Mass media people from Hamilton, Ontario Place of birth missing (living people) Canadian infotainers Global Television Network people Canadian radio hosts Canadian video jockeys Canadian television reporters and correspondents