Steve Wilkos

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Steve Wilkos (born Steven J. Wilkos on March 9, 1964), originally from Chicago, Illinois, is the director of security on The Jerry Springer Show. On many occasions he has substituted for Jerry Springer as host of the show.

Wilkos is the son of a Chicago police officer and a beauty school instructor. In junior high, Wilkos was 135 pounds and wore glasses. After high school, he joined the United States Marine Corps and was enlisted for 7 years. In 1985, while in Quantico, Virginia, Wilkos met and married a fellow Marine. The couple divorced two years later. In 1989, he received an honorable discharge. In 1990, Wilkos followed in his father's footsteps and became a Chicago police officer. In May 1994, the producers of The Jerry Springer Show needed to have security guards for a Ku Klux Klan-related show, so they decided to hire off-duty police. Wilkos recruited several fellow officers for the job, and has been with the show since. In 1998, Steve and his second wife, Hannah, separated. They divorced in 1999.

Recent seasons of the Springer show have put Wilkos in increasing roles, including episodes titled "Steve to the Rescue" which feature him leaving the studio, being recorded doing various goodwill acts. Most of these involve "Springer-esque" situations of a somewhat dangerous nature, for example, Wilkos helping women leave potentially-violent boyfriends, entering brothels to get out a teenage prostitute, etc. Breaking this pattern, one episode shows him working at a restaurant, where he raised enough money from tips and donations to buy a single mother a wheelchair-accessible van for her disabled son. He also has hosted several episodes of the 2005 season, where Springer was said to be sick. (Jerry also hosts a daily radio show in Cincinnati which also makes him unavailable at times for the show)

Wilkos' trademark bald head is shaved every other day using shaving cream and a razor. Steve currently lives in Park Ridge, Illinois.