Jill Belland is a Canadian TV personality and business person. She is a co-owner of Bare Belle in Calgary, where she provides dance and exercise training.[1] She was previously a TV host and producer at Citytv Calgary,[2][3] where she was the "On Location Host" of Breakfast Television.[4]

Jill Belland
Belland in 2009
Born
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
NationalityCanadian
EducationStudied at the University of Calgary in the Faculty of Communications and Culture with a concentration in Media Studies
Occupation(s)TV host and producer, dance/exercise instructor, business owner
EmployerCitytv Calgary

Early life edit

Belland was born in Edmonton and moved to Calgary at a young age.[4] She studied classical piano and trained to be a singer.[4] Belland studied at the University of Calgary.[4]

Belland joined the Calgary Stampeders Outriders cheerleading squad,[5] which she was part of for four years.[4] While with the Stampeders, she sang the national anthem at home games.[4] She has also worked as a stage actress, performing in local productions such as Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train,[6] The Full Monty,[2] and Man Out of Joint.[7][8]

Broadcasting edit

Belland was hired by A-Channel in Calgary[3] (CKAL-DT was previously known as A-Channel, and is now known as Citytv Calgary). Her initial job was "Coffee Girl" doing various gopher tasks for The Big Breakfast TV show.[2][3] She then assisted in production with the Big Breakfast show and the station's news department.[4]

In 2004, Belland was hired as an entertainment reporter for the show MTV Select.[3] (at the time A-Channel and MTV Canada were both owned by Craig Media). She was then promoted to become host[9] and producer of Wired on A-Channel in 2003.[3][4] She also served as a host of Your City,[2] Citytv's weekday evening show.

Belland became the host and producer of The City Show, a weekend show, that won the Rosie award for "Best News Information Series" by the Alberta Motion Picture Industries Association (AMPIA) in 2006.[4][10][11] The City Show and Your City were cancelled in January 2010.

Belland has won AMPIA's "Best Host" award for 2009, 2010, and 2011.[3] Belland was voted "Sexiest Women" in Calgary by Fast Forward Weekly readers in 2009.[12] In 2011 she won another Rosie as Best TV Host for the Breakfast Show.[13][14] Belland was included in Avenue Magazine's 2011 "Top 40 Under 40" list of Calgarian's.[3]

Fitness business edit

After covering Barre Body Studio for a segment on City in January 2013, she became a dance and fitness instructor there.[5] In February 2016 Belland and friend Kristi Stuart opened up their own barre studio together, called Bare Belle.[1]

As co-owner of Bare Belle, helped organize hundreds of other small business owners in June 2019 to call for a reduction of municipal taxes by Calgary's City Council, which did lower taxes by 10%.[15]

Further reading edit

  • Love, Kenzie (2011-06-09). "My babysitter, Jill Belland, voted as sexiest woman: She also nabs award for Favourite Local TV Personality". FFWD Weekly. Archived from the original on 2011-12-14. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
  • Belland, Jill (2009-06-29). "Get outside and enjoy Canada". Metro News (Calgary). Free Daily News Group Inc. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
  • Magnan, Michelle (2008-11-18). "Bright lights, bright makeup: Calgary's TV hosts are makeup pros". Calgary Herald. Canwest. Archived from the original on 2009-08-28. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  • Flug, Shane (February 3, 2014). "On-Location with Breakfast Television's Jill Belland". Freq. Magazine. Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.

References edit

  1. ^ a b Kanasoot, Vince (2016-03-16). "Strength at the barre". Van City Vince. Archived from the original on 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  2. ^ a b c d Phillip, Lincoln (2008-03-11). "Hectic schedule doesn't hinder TV pro's style". Calgary Herald. Canwest. p. E.3. Archived from the original on 2014-06-26. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Hamilton, Jennifer (2011). "Jill Belland, 32: Location Host And Producer Citytv's Breakfast Television". Avenue Magazine. Redpoint Media Group. Archived from the original on June 26, 2014. Retrieved 2012-01-18.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Breakfast Television - Jill Belland: On Location Host". BTcalgary.ca. Rogers Broadcasting Limited. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  5. ^ a b Frangou, Christina (2015-03-17). "How Breakfast Television Host Jill Belland Stays in Shape". Avenue Calgary. Archived from the original on 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  6. ^ De Vlaming, Kevin (2007-03-01). "A train worth hopping on, kind of". Gauntlet (University of Calgary). Archived from the original on June 7, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
  7. ^ Hobson, Louis B. (2007-05-12). "Play shines light on Guantanamo". jam.canoe.ca. Canoe Inc. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved 2008-08-03.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ Hobson, Louis B. (2007-05-04). "Pollock production finally set free". Calgary Sun. Canoe Inc. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  9. ^ McDonald, Roberta (2005-07-07). "Getting to the bottom of summer cocktails: From performers to politicians, local celebrities reveal their favourite girly drink drunks". Fast Forward Weekly. Archived from the original on February 13, 2012. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
  10. ^ "CHUM Television Picks Up 22 Alberta Film and Television Award Nominations". WebWire.com. CHUM Limited press release. 2006-03-29. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  11. ^ "The 2006 Film and Television Award Winners: Class Categories" (PDF). ampia.org. Alberta Motion Picture Industries Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 1, 2007. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
  12. ^ "Best of Calgary Winners 2009: Fast Forward readers pick the finest places, spaces and faces". Fast Forward Weekly. 2009-06-11. Archived from the original on October 27, 2013. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
  13. ^ Clark, Bob (2011-05-29). "Alberta films, TV honoured". Calgary Herald. Postmedia. p. D8. ISSN 0828-1815. ProQuest 869385597
  14. ^ Wilton, Lisa (2011-05-28). "Calgary blooms at Rosies". Calgary Sun. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  15. ^ Green, Kevin (2019-06-09). "City council slashes budget to reduce small business tax burden". CTV News. Bell Media. Archived from the original on 2020-07-07. Retrieved 2020-07-07.

External links edit