Samantha Elizabeth Brown (born March 31, 1969) is an American TV host, best known for her work as host in Girl Meets Hawaii, Great Hotels, Passport to Europe, Passport to Latin America and Passport to Great Weekends, and Passport to China, all of which currently air on the Travel Channel.
Brown was born in Dallas, Texas, United States. Her family soon moved to Derry, New Hampshire, where she grew up and graduated from Pinkerton Academy. She took 12 years of voice lessons, attended Chapman University, and transferred to Syracuse University to study musical theater.
In January 2006, Brown announced her engagement to Kevin O'Leary of Cambridge, Maryland, who is a specialist in computer servers. They were married on 28 October 2006.
Brown's early career included working in commercials, including playing the spokesperson "Wendy Wire" for a company called Century Cable. She is involved in the comedy sketch group "Mouth", based in New York, where she has lived for ten years. Brown has appeared in the HP Pavilion "Computer is Personal Again" commercials, in which she is called "super mom", although her head was out of view as they were shot from her shoulders to her waist. She can also be seen as the spokesperson in the commercials for "Champion Windows". Additionally, she is the spokesperson for ECCO shoes.
In 1999 and 2000, the Travel Channel was looking for a travel hostess, and Brown was chosen after a series of auditions. In her role of host, she introduces viewers to vacation destinations, hotels, and vacation homes in the U.S. and around the world, and explores the locations and activities these destinations offer.
Since joining the network, Brown has hosted several series including Girl Meets Hawaii, Great Hotels, Passport to Europe, Passport to Great Weekends, and Passport to Latin America. She also hosted Great Vacation Homes on the CTV Travel channel (which was subsequently aired on the Travel Channel).
In addition to her regular shows, Brown has been the host to Travel Channel specials such as the 2006 all-access special Great Cruises: Freedom of the Seas with Samantha Brown aboard the Freedom of the Seas cruise ship, the largest passenger ship in the world at the time of its launch. Prior to that, she hosted a 12-night Mediterranean Venice cruise aboard the Brillance of the Seas cruise ship. The accompanying show was entitled Samantha Brown's First Cruise. In 2007, she hosted a special entitled Passport to Green Getaways, a travelogue to three eco-friendly destinations in North America.
Brown currently has two new series in production. In April 2007, Discovery Networks announced that she would host a new series titled Passport to Great Weekends ... With Samantha Brown featuring Brown exploring 48-hour vacation locations in the US and abroad. In September 2007, she was in Beijing, filming Passport to China, to be aired in June and July 2008, just ahead of the 2008 Olympics. It is slated to air as three one-hour installments.
In an October 2007 press release shortly after the acquisition of the Travel Channel by Cox Communications, it was announced that among plans for more travel shows in 2008, a total of 14 hours of programming is scheduled featuring Brown.
