Phil Keoghan - Biography

Biography

Born in the town of Lincoln, New Zealand, 22 km (14 mi) south of Christchurch, Keoghan spent a considerable part of his childhood in Antigua and Canada. He attended St Andrew's College, Christchurch.

While completing a TV cameraman apprenticeship, he successfully auditioned for New Zealand children's show Spot On at age 19. After a series of further presenter work on television in New Zealand television, including as a reporter on That's Fairly Interesting, he set off to further his career abroad. Before joining The Amazing Race, he was considered, but not selected, as a host for Survivor. For his hosting of The Amazing Race, Keoghan was nominated for the 2009 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program in the second year of the award's creation but lost to Jeff Probst of Survivor. In a 2002 interview, he admitted that his pay for a single episode of The Amazing Race is more than an entire year on Spot On.

According to his book, No Opportunity Wasted, Keoghan set out to live his life to the fullest by accomplishing exotic goals and taking risks after a near-death experience at the age of 19. Since then, he's broken a world bungee jumping record, gone diving in the world's longest underwater caves, eaten a meal on top of an erupting volcano, and renewed his vows underwater. He was a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where he shared with Oprah his list of things he wants to do before he dies.

In 2008, Keoghan was awarded the World Class New Zealand award in the 'Creative' category.

From 28 March to 9 May 2009, Keoghan performed in "Ride Across America", in partnership with several organizations including GNC, to raise money for multiple sclerosis research. Keoghan and others biked 3,500 miles from Los Angeles to New York City, averaging 100 miles per day. Keoghan stopped in 39 cities en route, attending various events and participating in casting for season 15 of The Amazing Race; the ride culminated a day before the finale of season 14. The event raised $500,000, with over $400,000 coming from in-store donations during the ride. His documentary movie The Ride about his ride across America, premiered on 3 February 2011.

Shortly after the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, Keoghan traveled to his hometown to ensure his family was safe but also to record segments for The Early Show to implore viewers to provide aid to the New Zealand Red Cross and to promote continued tourism, a fundamental part of New Zealand's economy, to the country.

At the same time, he participated in recording Air New Zealand's new safety video for its domestic jet fleet. Keoghan has hosted over 1,000 different programme episodes.

In June 2010, it was announced that Keoghan would host and produce a new reality series about the VELUX 5 Oceans Race. He told TMZ in 2010 that during the 10th season of The Amazing Race he was detained in Ukraine for two days until the U.S. ambassador in Ukraine worked all night to free him.

Phil has also his own energy bar; NOW Energy Bar. It comes in two flavors; "Peanut & Caramel" and "Honeycomb with Chia & Raisins". Earlier this year, the NOW snack bar was released. The flavors are "Manuka Honey" and "Strawberry".

Keoghan was recognized in 2012 as one of six "Emerging Leaders" during the Sir Peter Blake Leadership Awards, due to his use of his celebrity status to support efforts such as Christchurch earthquake relief and efforts for multiple sclerosis.