Bolaris 'honest and real' on radio
Weatherman will host hourlong show on Saturdays, with Mayor Nutter as one of his first guests.
JOHN BOLARIS is back on the regular broadcast beat for the first time since he was fired from Fox 29 in 2012, but this time he's radio-bound.
Bolaris will host "CenterStage with John Bolaris," on WTEL (610-AM) (WIP's former signal) from 6 to 7 p.m. Saturdays, starting this week. His first guests include Mayor Nutter and "Mob Wives" star Natalie Didonato.
"I'm just going to be honest and real, nothing phony," Bolaris said.
Bolaris told me that "CenterStage" will interview celebs both local and national, trying to get to the person underneath the status.
"I won't have any restraints other than FCC code," Bolaris told me. "If I'm going to have [Eagles linebacker] Connor Barwin on, I won't ask all about football. I'll ask about their life, the highs and lows, their childhood. I want to get to know that person more than anything else. It's going to be where the guests will let it go. Like with Natalie, I'm sure she'll talk about 'Mob Wives,' but I want to know more about her. Like how does someone like that date?"
The show is a departure from his normal weather routine, but Bolaris' roots are in radio. He has been a regular on shows near and far, including WMMR's "Preston and Steve Show" (whom he praises for their meticulous research of their interview subjects) and the "Howard Stern Show," where he proposed to his former fiancee, onetime Playboy model Erica Smitheman.
The couple recently broke up.
"I'm not happy about that, not at all. We're friends, but it was the person I was going to be with forever and I got stung by that," Bolaris said.
When I suggested he might be a good Daily News Sexy Single candidate, he responded, "I'm no Sexy Single, I'm just a nerdy weatherman."
Initially, station owners wanted Bolaris for a Monday-through-Friday gig at a different station, but Bolaris was committed to his work with the weather website weathersavior.com and as a contributor to Philly.com.
In addition to his radio doings, Bolaris is shopping around a TV pilot with Stern cohort Rachel Fine. Produced by TruTV, the show will look at extreme weather and unexplained phenomena. So TV may once again be in his future.
Katherine Scott: A girl!
Congrats to 6ABC's Katherine Scott, who gave birth to her second daughter on Saturday.
Scott and husband Andy welcomed Abigail Bosquett at 8 pounds, 6 ounces and more than 20 inches long. Scott worked up until Jan. 28.
Abigail joins Annie Beatrice,who was born in 2013. According to 6ABC, Annie has already taken to bossing around her little sister, as any good big sister should.
Flyers: Bowl for CHOP
Flyers captain Claude Giroux hosted the Claude Giroux Foundation Bowling Event on Monday night at Lucky Strike (1336 Chestnut St.). Giroux, Wayne Simmonds, Steve Mason, Ray Emery, Jakub Voracek, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Matt Read and Sean Couturier bowled it out with custom balls featuring Giroux's face emblazoned on them. The evening benefited a number of different charities, including Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Flyers Charities, Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation and the Notre-Dame Hospital in Giroux's hometown of Hearst, Ontario.
Sproles stars in doc
Eagles running back Darren Sproles will be featured in USA Network's fourth annual "NFL Characters Unite" documentary, in which four NFLers, who faced childhood obstacles, are teamed with youngsters who face similar hurdles.
Sproles, who was almost sidelined by a debilitating stutter, works with a girl named Sheila who has become the target of bullies because of her speech impediment.
Along with Sproles, Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles, Buffalo Bills defensive end Mario Williams and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman also will take on kids to mentor.
Narrated by Cris Collinsworth, the doc airs Friday at 7 p.m. on USA Network.
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