10 Questions with Beth Stern, Kitten Bowl Host & Animal Advocate
For her sixth straight year, Southampton author and animal advocate Beth Stern returns to host Hallmark Channel and North Shore Animal League America’s Kitten Bowl VI, a kinder, gentler—and much cuter—Super Bowl tradition before the big game at 2 p.m. on Sunday, February 3. And this year, for the first time, she’s also presiding over the inaugural Cat Bowl, a similar contest featuring adorable, adoptable adult felines, at 10 p.m. on Saturday, February 2.
Each year since 2014, Kitten Bowl brings adoptable rescued kittens together from shelters across the country, all vying for the National Championship of Feline Football trophy in a two-hour, furry football “catstravaganza.” The show raises adoption awareness around the country, and coordinates with more than 500 shelter partners that showcase local animals for adoption from February 2–16. To date, Kitten Bowl has resulted in the adoption more than 25,000 dogs, cats, puppies and kittens through Kitten Bowl party adoption events with these North Shore Animal League America shelter partners.
The new event, Cat Bowl, follows a similar format but features adult cat-letes drafted by North Shore Animal League America and Last Hope Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation. Along with all the gridiron action, the show highlights inspirational stories about these senior and special needs animals in need of forever homes.
Stern is hosting both games from Hallmark Channel Stadium, where she’ll be joined by Hallmark Channel star Alison Sweeney (Murder, She Baked, Days of Our Lives) and Home & Family co-host Cameron Mathison for Cat Bowl on Saturday, and Dean Cain (Lois & Clark, Hit the Floor) and former NFL player Rodney Peete for Kitten Bowl VI on Sunday. NFL veterans Rashad Jennings and four-time Pro Bowl quarterback and Hamptons resident Boomer Esiason will provide color commentary for Kitten Bowl VI.
A perfect fit for this major adoption initiative, Stern is a staunch advocate for cats and kittens who works tirelessly to find them new homes and families. As national spokesperson for North Shore Animal League America, Stern has personally seen to the adoption of hundreds cats, reviewing adoption requests, meeting the adopters and delivering the cats and kittens to their forever homes. She and her husband, Sirius XM radio personality Howard Stern, have a designated foster room in their home and currently house 15 cats while they await adoption.
In the lead-up to Kitten Bowl VI and the first-ever Cat Bowl, Stern answered our 10 Questions—a set of standard, rapid-fire queries we ask many of our most notable subjects.
1. Favorite book?
Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
2. The last thing that took your breath away?
The family of deer frolicking in the dunes in my backyard.
3. The last thing that made you cry?
When I found out that my current adult foster kitty was shot in the head previously and lost his eye and will always have a BB lodged in him.
4. It’s the eve of your execution: What would be your last meal?
Pizza and french fries.
5. Something worth fighting for?
Animal rights.
6. Something worth giving up?
Desserts. I gave them up when I was training for the NYC Marathon 10 years ago and haven’t gone back to them. I’ve never felt better.
7. Spend an afternoon with anyone—alive or dead—who would it be?
Howard Stern.
8. An interesting object in your home or office?
Fifteen foster kittens in our foster room.
9. Last film you watched?
Bohemian Rhapsody.
10. What was your most rewarding moment as an animal advocate?
Being able to say that we’ve fostered almost 900 cats over the past five years and have successfully placed them with forever families.
The inaugural Cat Bowl airs on the Hallmark Channel at 10 p.m. on Saturday, February 2, and Kitten Bowl VI airs at 2 p.m. Sunday, February 3. Learn more at hallmarkchannel.com.
To help cats and kittens in need, visit North Shore Animal League America at animalleague.org.
Vetted Hamptons Resources
