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Jeff Dye.
Jeff Dye is a standup comedian and podcast host whose first big break came in 2008 when he placed third on the NBC series Last Comic Standing.
Dye’s love life made headlines on October 11 when TMZ published a short video of the comedian kissing reality TV star and entrepreneur Kristin Cavallari at a bar in Chicago’s Fulton Market. Cavallari and husband Jay Cutler announced in April that they were divorcing.
Dye joked about the attention on Twitter. He wrote on October 12, “If y’all gonna talk about me in the news can you at least use a good pic of me?”
Here’s what you need to know about Dye:
1. Jeff Dye Traveled the Globe With Henry Winkler, William Shatner, Terry Bradshaw & George Foreman for an NBC Series
Getty Comedian Jeff Dye attends the NBCUniversal press day during the 2016 Summer TCA Tour at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on August 2, 2016.
The coronavirus pandemic forced entertainers to cancel shows and national tours. But Dye has kept busy throughout 2020 despite the travel restrictions. He has been hosting his podcast, Jeff Dye’s Friendship Podcast, since 2018. In May, Dye also appeared as a guest judge on The Masked Singer.
If you’re an NBC fan, you’ve likely seen Dye on TV over the past several years. He first appeared on season six of Last Comic Standing, which aired in 2008. Dye finished the reality competition in third place. Iliza Shlesinger, who has hosted four comedy specials for Netflix including Elder Millennial, was crowned the winner of that season.
Dye also appeared in NBC’s comedy-variety series I Can Do That, which aired in the summer of 2015. The following year, Dye was tapped for the reality show Better Late Than Never starring Henry Winkler, William Shatner, Terry Bradshaw and George Foreman. The show documented the group’s adventures as they traveled around the globe.
Like Cavallari, Dye’s resume includes stints on MTV. Dye hosted the game show Money From Strangers in 2012. Dye would challenge participants to complete wild dares in exchange for cash. Before that, Dye hosted another game show called Numbnuts on MTV in 2010.
2. Dye Grew Up in Washington With 2 Sisters & Started Doing Standup Comedy as a College Student
Getty Jeff Dye attends the 2018 NBCUniversal Winter Press Tour at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on January 9, 2018.
Dye grew up on the west coast. He lists Kent, which is part of the Seattle metropolitan area, as his hometown on his Facebook page.
He attended Kentwood High School and Green River Community College, Seattle PI reported in 2008. Dye explained to the outlet how he got started in comedy as a college student:
I was in college … but I didn’t like it. I did it because that’s what I thought I was supposed to do. I decided I wanted to try something I love. I started writing in the mornings, and I studied comedy DVDs. What separates me from other comics is that I was so one-track-minded. This is what I want to do, and I am completely serious about it. Yeah, I was really, really bad at first, but I knew I was funny. I liked the attention, even when I was doing really bad. It’s so clichéd to say it’s a drug. My friends kept telling me to keep trying. They were all supportive.
Dye’s family has made it into his more recent routines. He has joked that his stable upbringing prevented him from getting into trouble: “I had a rough childhood because my parents aren’t divorced. I didn’t get to do drugs till I was 18.”
Dye has also joked about being the only brother with two sisters: “Growing up with only sisters I never fit in. Every day I was like “when am I gonna get my period?’”
Dye’s two sisters are Jenifer and Janice. Janice tragically passed away in a car accident in late 2015. Dye memorialized his sister in a touching Instagram post that read in part, “It’s just so hard to believe that she’s gone. I’ve never known a world with out my big sister. I’m not very comfortable with a world without her. When I was younger she always bailed me out of trouble, picked me up when I didn’t know where I was or if I was somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be… Being the little brother gave me the convenience of never having conflict with her and always being protected and looked out for. She was a hero to me, when I was little and when we got older that perspective never changed.”
3. Dye Has Joked That He Prefers to Date Women With Children
The fact that Cavallari is a mother of three children is not an issue for Dye. In fact, he welcomes this type of situation, if his Instagram account and standup routine is any indication.
On July 10, Dye posted a line he had used during a recent show about his dating life: “I like dating women who have kids because they’re already going to all the places I was gonna go. They’ll tell me their day like ‘we are getting breakfast, going to the water park, then getting ice cream.’ I’m like me too! Shot gun!”
In the caption section, Dye further clarified his position: “Jus being honest. I love kids, I love women, and babies seem like a lot of work. Seems ideal.”
Dye does not have any children of his own. Cavallari shares sons Camden and Jaxon and daughter Saylor with her ex-husband. She has shielded the children from the public eye; they did not appear on her E! reality series Very Cavallari and she does not show their faces on social media. Shortly after announcing her separation from Cutler, Cavallari revealed she had decided to stop filming the reality show.
4. Dye Loves to Share Pictures of His Goldendoodle, Bub, on Instagram
Dye may not have children but he is a fur-parent. The comedian has an adorable Goldendoodle named Bub whom he frequently posts about on Instagram.
Dye has commented about how important Bub has been to his life in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. In August, Dye shared a picture of Bub in the passenger seat of a jeep. He wrote in the caption in part, “here’s my best Bub. He’s been such a blessing and answered prayer during this covid shit. He’s not an official service dog but he definitely keeps me balanced and sane and happy so I think that counts.”
Dye shared another picture of Bub wearing the protective eyewear on September 17. He wrote, “Thanks for being my best friend during all this. I love you Bub.”
Bub is also a punchline sometimes during Dye’s standup routines. Dye shared on Instagram that he has talked about how skittish Bub can be when he hears unfamiliar noises or encounters something new: “It’s so funny that my dog thinks he’s a guard dog when he is afraid of everything. All you’d need to rob my whole place is a hairdryer. Last week he s*** himself when he saw a pumpkin.”
5. Dye Previously Dated WWE Wrestler Becky Lynch
Dye used to date professional wrestler Becky Lynch, Distractify reported, but it’s unclear exactly how long the two were in a romantic relationship. According to Wrestling News Plus, Lynch and Dye broke up in early 2019.
Lynch moved on with fellow WWE star Seth Rollins. They announced their engagement in August 2019, just three months after coming out as a couple. Lynch and Rollins had planned to tie the knot in 2020 but altered their plans due to the coronavirus. They are expecting their first child together in December, People reported.
If Cavallari and Dye decide to commit, she’ll need to maintain a sense of humor because it’s a safe bet that Dye would allude to her on stage. In September, he shared a line from a routine that was about an ex: “My last girlfriend would make fun of me for liking pro wrestling. I was like, ‘It’s just a show! I know it’s not real! You believe in astrology! You’re making fun of me while we charge your crystals. I like fictional shows and you believe rocks are magic, which one of us sounds crazy?’”
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