Nicole Ryan
With her effortless charm and down-to-earth energy, Nicole Ryan has the type of natural charisma that instantly lights up any screen, stage, or studio. Since first hitting the airwaves as a co-host of “The Morning Mash Up”—the SiriusXM Hits 1 daily talk show frequented by today’s biggest pop stars—she’s emerged as a multidimensional force of nature, finding breakout success in TV, digital media, brand ambassadorship, the live-event market, and beyond. As she moves forward in a self-styled career that shows the many sides of her magnetic personality—pop culture expert, culinary enthusiast, fitness buff, wife and mom, to name just a few—Ryan infuses every undertaking with her sharp sense of humor and genuinely radiant presence.
Throughout her time at “The Morning Mash Up,” Ryan has continually served up celebrity interviews both fascinating and undeniably fun—a listening experience not unlike tuning into a private confab among close friends. Not only a testament to her quick wit and sincere relatability, Ryan’s extraordinary skills as an interviewer reflect the underlying philosophy behind her on-air work: the more relaxed and carefree the conversation, the more easily she’s able to truly connect with her subject. Over the years, that approach has built a seldom attained level of comfort among her guests, inspiring countless celebrities to use “The MorningMash Up” as a platform for making bombshell announcements (e.g., Sia disclosing that she’d adopted two teenage boys the year before). Thanks in part to Ryan’s willingness to ask the tough questions, many stars have spilled major secrets while visiting “The Morning Mash Up”: in 2017, for instance, Katy Perry confessed to her hopes of finally making peace with Taylor Swift, while a 2019 interview saw Jennifer Lopez speaking to the skepticism she felt upon getting engaged to Alex Rodriguez. And with her uncanny knack for mining buzzworthy soundbites from those in the hot seat, Ryan’s headline-making interviews also include a 2020 chat with Shawn Mendes in which the often-reserved singer/songwriter opened up about time spent apart from his girlfriend Camila Cabello during quarantine — a rare moment of candor that immediately saw hordes of major media outlets flooding the internet with excerpts from their exchange.
Despite her innate talent behind the microphone, Ryan never planned on making a career in radio. Originally from Syracuse, she studied applied psychology at Ithaca College and headed to New York City not long after graduating, in hopes of breaking into the marketing side of the entertainment industry. After landing a temporary receptionist gig at Sirius Satellite Radio (then a fledgling company still in its startup phase), Ryan took full advantage of the opportunity and soon became the go-to option for producers in need of voice-over for promos and sweepers. From there, she began appearing on various shows seeking a female perspective on the issues of the day, and quickly discovered an incredible ease with the high-speed rhythms of talk radio. With the Sirius subscriber base immensely bolstered by “The Howard Stern Show,” Ryan was promptly offered a co-host position on “The Morning Mash Up,” swiftly making her name as a female powerhouse in a historically male-dominated medium.
As her profile rose, Ryan earned the public admiration of superstars like Stern, Jimmy Fallon and Ellen DeGeneres, who’ve all embraced her as a formidably like-minded on-air personality. Her growing acclaim also led to her first TV appearance, with Chelsea Handler inviting her to join the round-table panel on “Chelsea Lately.” A perfect showcase for her pop-culture insights and whip-smart comic timing, Ryan’s foray into television has now included appearances on programs like “Good Morning America,” “Guy’s Big Bite,” “The Wendy Williams Show,” and “Tamron Hall Show.” In addition, she’s previously served as co-host of VH1’s “Big Morning BuzzLive” alongside Nick Lachey.
With her fanbase constantly expanding, 2018 saw the launch of Ryan’s own digital series through Awestruck (a division of AwesomenessTV). In each episode, “On-Air Mom” offered an up-close glimpse into the chronically hectic life she shares with her husband and two young children, revealing all the chaos that comes with being a working mother in the nonstop action of New York City. A much-needed foil to the Pinterest-ready perfection flaunted by so many mommy bloggers, “On-Air Mom” provided a refreshingly candid portrait of the ups and downs of family life, resulting in a show that’s equal parts hilarious and heartwarming in its unfiltered honesty.
Ryan upholds that honesty in her laid-back but disarming presence on social media, where she frequently lets followers in on her adventures as a home cook, fitness obsessive, and reality-TV junkie. In recent years, leading brands across the globe have rightly tapped her as a brand ambassador, a turn of events that’s led to partnerships with the likes of MasterCard, Sony, P.volve, Philip Kingsley, and Nivea. At the same time, she’s become increasingly in-demand as ared-carpet correspondent, keynote speaker, panel moderator, and interview host for a widerange of live events, including the National Society of Leadership and Success’ Speaker Broadcast Series (an annual happening that’s found Ryan conducting lively onstage interviews with luminaries like Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey and multihyphenate phenomenon Neil Patrick Harris).
In one of her latest endeavors, Ryan has made an organic progression into the podcasting world as co-host of two new series: “After Mash” (an extension of “The Morning Mash Up,” featuring her regular showmates Ryan Sampson and Stanley T) and “Have Kids, They Said” (a down-and dirty parenting podcast co-starring her former “Morning Mash Up” sidekick Rich Davis). With a trailblazing visual podcast now in the works, Ryan approaches each new venture with the same intention: to sustain the warm authenticity her longtime fans have come to rely on, and add a bit of lighthearted joy into every audience member’s day.