The UB Interview: Steve Wilkos Talks ‘The Steve Wilkos Show’

Steve Wilkos‘ “The Steve Wilkos Show,” is now in its sixteenth season in nationally syndicate by NBCUniversal.

Since its debut, Steve‘s popularity has skyrocketed—the show has grown 59% in households over its premiere season and averaged a strong 900,000 daily viewers for the 2021-22 season.

“The Steve Wilkos Show” delivers a large percentage of its audience from the advertiser friendly Adults 25-54 demographic, while delivering one of the highest concentrations among all the syndicated talk shows.

Steve Wilkos and his wife Rachelle, who is the executive producer, have two children and live in Connecticut.

Before beginning a career in entertainment, Steve Wilkos served in the U.S. Marine Corps for seven years. When he returned from service, he went back to his hometown of Chicago and joined the Chicago Police Department, following in his father’s footsteps. During that time, he took great pride in keeping the streets of the notoriously volatile Shakespeare District safe for almost 12 years. Steve Wilkos retired from the police force in 2001.

Late in his law enforcement career, the 6’3” Steve Wilkos began moonlighting, as a security guard on “The Jerry Springer Show.” By the time he started hosting his own show, Steve had guest-hosted more than 50 episodes of “The Jerry Springer Show.”

His no-nonsense style, informed by his law enforcement background, was different from Jerry Springer’s and allowed Steve to create his own identity as a tough-talking host. Steve‘s popularity grew with viewers and as a result, in 2007, he began hosting his own show.

Steve‘s show has earned him four Prism Award nominations for raising awareness about substance abuse and other social issues. He served as the host of the Daytime Entertainment Creative Arts Emmy Awards in 2011 and appeared briefly in a cameo role on a Halloween episode of “The Simpsons,” a milestone he calls “the highlight of my career.”

Steve Wilkos has also appeared in several TV shows and films, most notably “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.”

A huge sports fan and avid golfer, he attends as many professional sporting events as his schedule allows, especially baseball, basketball and football games.

Tishelle from UB talked to Steve Wilkos recently for the premiere of Season 16 of “The Steve Wilkos Show.” Steve talks about his continued mission to bring truth and justice to families in need and what we can expect this season.

Steve also shares an hilarious story of his most ghetto-est moments, he’s had on television, the joys of his Harley-Davidson and his biggest achievement from doing “The Steve Wilkso Show.”

Steve Wilkos gets candid about being a former police officer and shares what he feels it will take for us all to develop a better relationship with officers and more!