Cindy Rhodes first appeared on “Sidewalks” in 1993 and is now a special host for interviews and features.
The former Central Illinois resident has the honor of interviewing most of the celebrities that appeared on the show.
Some of the people she has talked to include: NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal; singers Josh Groban, The Judds, Donny and Marie Osmond, Phil Collins, Chris Isaak, Alessandro Safina, Sara Evans, Natalie Imbruglia, Montell Jordan, Sandi Patty, James Brown, Neil Finn, James Darren, John Hiatt; actresses Debbie Reynolds, Gloria Stuart (“Titanic”), Catherine Bell (JAG), Kathy Najimy (“Sister Act”), Annie Potts and Lorraine Toussaint (Any Day Now), Connie Sellecca, Emma Samms (General Hospital), Donna Mills, Tia and Tamera Mowry (Sister Sister); actors Bill Paxton, Bob Saget, Rob Schneider, Shaun Cassidy, Bruce Greenwood; supermodels Claudia Schiffer, Molly Sims; newswoman Maria Shriver (Dateline NBC); TV host Robin Leach, Meredith Vieria and Joy Behar (The View); musician John Tesh, and authors Jackie Collins, Sandra Brown, Sidney Sheldon, and Judith Krantz. And the list continues.
“I think that celebrity interviews are the heart and soul of Sidewalks,” says Cindy. “We have been fortunate in speaking to some really great people. What I work hard to do is to uncover the person underneath the celebrity image. Once they start talking about their upbringing or their early influential years, it seems to strip away the barriers and we become “friends” just chatting about our lives. This communication has made for really in-depth and rewarding interviews.”
Cindy is proud of her interviews and how her TV show has approached interviewing celebrities than the late night talk shows and entertainment magazine series. “We need a show like Sidewalks to counter the many tabloid, guerilla style entertainment shows which seem to disrespect the very people their shows are built around.”
According to executive producer and Cindy’s co-host Richard R. Lee, “If there’s a celebrity interview on the show, Cindy is usually the one with the microphone. She can handle all-types of interviews. When Cindy hosted our Bay Area Music Award Special, she showed she can interview a blues singer one minute and a heavy metal rock band the next. Not many hosts have the ability to control and handle diverse interviews as well as Cindy can. We are very lucky to have her.”
Besides being the show’s longest personality, Cindy is also one of the producers and co-owner of the Sidewalks project. Currently, she is appearing as a special host for celebrity interviews and features.
Outside of the show, she has hosted Bay Area Journal: Earth Day, Cinco de Mayo ’98 and ’99, Festival by the Bay Highlights 2000, and The Multicultural Festival for station KCRT-TV. In May of 1999, Cindy (along with Richard) was a host for “Sister Cities,” a celebration for the cities of Richmond and El Cerrito.