Campanelli is a native of
Hamilton, Ontario, and grew up in a working class Italian-Canadian family. He is the youngest of four siblings in a
Roman Catholic family. Campanelli attended school in St. Catharines. He attended
Brock University, earning a degree in
physical education. Campanelli was introduced to the MuchMusic viewers as the winner of
MuchMusic's 1994
MuchTemp contest. Originally he was nicknamed "The Temp" (or, famously, "
Rick the Temp").
The MuchMusic Countdown and
The MuchMusic Radio Countdown. Campanelli's final appearance on MuchMusic was August 26, 2005, on
MuchOnDemand. He was subsequently announced as one of the reporters for
ET Canada, a new Canadian licensee of
Entertainment Tonight, which was launched on September 12, 2005. In early 2007, Campanelli hosted the ''Canada's Case Game'' segments on
Global's
Deal or No Deal Canada, during that series' first limited run. Campanelli is involved with several charitable organizations including
World Vision Canada, Tuberous Sclerosis,
Big Brothers/Big Sisters,
McMaster Children's Hospital, and
Kids Help Phone. On May 27, 2009, he hosted the
Youth and Philanthropy Initiative in
Toronto. In February 2016, Toronto radio station
CFNY-FM announced that Campanelli would join the station as co-host with Fred Kennedy and Melanie Mariani of the station's morning show, beginning June 27. Later that year, he made a cameo appearance in the music video for
James Barker Band's "
Just Sayin'". In July 2017, it was announced that Campanelli would depart as co-host of
ET Canada after 12 years when his contract ended in summer 2017. He appeared on
ET Canada through August 2017. He joined
Z103.5 in November 2021, and was co-host of the morning show until December 2022, when he left the station. In 2023, Campanelli competed on the first season of
The Traitors Canada, where he played as a Faithful. He was banished by his fellow castmates in the fifth episode. In 2024, he joined
CHFI-FM in
Toronto as an afternoon host. In 2025 he joined
Citytv's
Breakfast Television as a live eye reporter, leaving the weekday shift on CHFI but retaining a Sunday morning show on the station. ==References==