From massive shifts in reporter lineups to new controversies about social media behavior, the world of sports broadcast reporting can seem volatile and ever-changing. Due to that flux, it’s important to highlight those who rise through the ranks to achieve success within the industry. One such broadcaster who has achieved these heights is Joy Taylor.
But how did she climb the ranks to get where she is today? Those are the questions we’re about to answer as we look at Joy Taylor and her life story so far!
Joy Taylor: Early Life And Background
Joy Allison Taylor was born on January 17th, 1987, to her parents, Anthony Taylor and Georgia Taylor. Her family also includes her older brother, Jason Taylor, and her younger brother, Noah Taylor.
Joy soon developed a love of sports from hanging with her two brothers and the general sports culture fostered in her hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her brother Jason would become a defensive end/outside linebacker for the Miami Dolphins for 14 years. During his stint in the sport, he won several awards (like AFC Defensive Player of the Year and a spot in the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame).
This isn’t to say Joy wasn’t a big sports player, either. She played everything from baseball to soccer throughout her childhood. However, Joy expressed that her true passion was expressing her opinions about sports, but she never thought about reporting since it didn’t feel authentic.
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Continuing Education
After graduating high school, Joy went to Barry University in Miami, Florida, to pursue a degree in Broadcast Communications. While there, she became a valuable member of the college radio station WBRY 1640 AM, helping to keep everything running well. She even got her show on the station (called “The Noise”), where she honed her craft and learned to handle the pressures and complications of live broadcasting.
She also earned the Inaugural Dwight Lauderdale Scholarship during her undergraduate career. Her extracurriculars included the acclaimed Lambda Pi Eta Honors Society.
Joy Taylor’s Rise In Career
Now that she’d established herself as a force to be reckoned with, Joy soon broke into the industry with a job at Miami ratio station 790 AM The Ticket. Starting as an executive producer, she climbed the ranks for 3 years until she soon secured a spot as a co-host for The Zaslow and Joy Show. The show soon rocketed to one of the area’s top-rated morning sports radio shows.
From there, Joy would go on to assist the CBS Sports website, hosting both their Thursday Night Live and Fantasy Football Today programs. Her portfolio of work continued to swell until she hit a breakthrough in 2016.
The Big Leagues
This breakthrough was when she joined FOX Sports, as Taylor was the subsequent replacement of host Kristine Leahy on FOX’s big-tier, raucous sports show The Herd With Colin Cowherd. She wowed audiences and executives alike with her skill and personality on The Herd and assistance on smaller shows here and there. It wasn’t long until the executives at FOX bumped her up to moderator for ‘Skip and Shannon: Undisputed.’ The show is one of Fox Sports 1’s biggest, starring Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe.
As her boundless energy and wit breathed new life into the show, audiences nationwide went crazy for Joy. She soon returned to The Herd as an official co-host alongside Colin, working to provide the tempered response to Colin’s wild takes on various sports.
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Outside Sports
Joy has also done much work outside the sports industry, including launching her news show Joy Chat on Caffeine.tv, a platform looking to get in on Twitch’s cut of the streaming game. In interviews, Joy acknowledged that the media landscape has shifted dramatically since she entered the radio game, forcing her to keep moving and try new things to stay ahead.
Joy also takes the time to speak out about the difficulties of being a woman of color in an industry dominated by white men. She even created a show on Yahoo Sports called Pass Her The Mic to help raise awareness of injustices within sports communities and provide a voice to other marginalized figures in the industry.
She’s also a controversial figure on social media, though this is more due to her co-host’s wild claims on The Herd than anything. As such, Joy has developed tough skin and is one of the few celebrities to “punch back” at Internet trolls.
Joy has also accumulated a small fortune while working in the broadcasting industry. Her net worth is estimated to have cracked around a million dollars this year, and her annual salary ranges in the 100,000s.
There are no definitive announcements about Joy’s future projects. However, given her pace and quality of work, we doubt this is the last you’ll hear of Joy Taylor.
What Is Joy Taylor’s Net Worth?
Taylor was announced the host of her Saturday program, The Joy Taylor Show, on Fox Sports Radio on September 9, 2021. Almost a year later, Taylor began cohosting “Speak” on FS1. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Joy Taylor has a net worth of $1 million.
Also Read: Who Is Skip Bayless? Everything You Need To Know About America’s Most Hated Sports Columnist
Is Joy Taylor Dating Someone?
For the most part, Joy works to keep her professional and personal life separate, citing the stresses that come with allowing the two to bleed together. That said, she married Los Angeles Angels baseball star Richard Giannotti in 2016, with a ceremony in Fort Lauderdale. The marriage only lasted a year, with the couple officially divorcing in 2017.
Around 2018, the announcement came that Joy was engaged to Earl Watson, a former NBA player. Though they bought a million-dollar property together in California, the couple broke the engagement off in 2019. Neither party has given an exact reason for the breakup. Joy has no children from either relationship.
Is Joy Taylor On Social Media?
The television host for Fox Sports has social media accounts on Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. On Instagram, Taylor has 742k followers and over 4,700 posts, while she has more than 469k followers on X. Apart from them, Joy has 232k followers on Facebook.
Joy Taylor regularly posts updates on her television shows or podcasts on her social media handles. She also shares pictures from her vacations and also promotes women athletes. That’s everything we know about Joy Taylor so far. But being as well-informed and talented as she is, surely there’s plenty more to come in her life story.
