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Jessica Chobot (née Horn) is an American on-camera TV and gaming channel host and writer. She was born in Buffalo, New York, and grew up in Novi, Michigan, though her family moved from town to town frequently during her youth for undisclosed reasons.
An avid gamer and blogger, Chobot would attend gaming events across the US when in her twenties, often on camera. Chobot gained exposure when Kotaku published a photo of her seductively licking a Sony PSP online in 2005. The photo has been widely parodied since, even appearing on Sony-branded advertising.
Newly divorced though keeping her ex-husband’s name, in 2006, Chobot was hired full-time by IGN.com to take over hosting responsibilities for the network’s IGN Weekly show. Her segments included stand-up introductions as well as “woman-on-the-street” pieces.
Starting in 2009 and ending in 2011, Chobot hosted a daily show titled IGN Daily Fix; the first episode aired on March 23rd, 2009. In addition, she also hosted a weekly ‘tips and tricks’ show called IGN Strategize and contributed content such as columns, features, reviews, and blog posts on IGN.
Jess Of All Trades
Chobot has appeared in commercials for ADV’s Anime Network On Demand cable station, and lent her likeness to Symbiote Studios Toy Company for two limited-edition anime-style sculptures. In addition, she has modelled for the J!NX female gamers clothing line. In 2006-2007, she co-wrote a sci-fi script with writer/director/creator of Tron, Steven Lisberger, for Soul Code. Chobot also wrote the “Ask Jess, Dammit!” blog for Maxim.
She was named the 88th most desirable woman of 2008 by AskMen magazine and 14th hottest woman of business 2009 by Business Pundit. In 2011, Chobot placed at #57 in the 2011 Askmen’s Top 99 Women poll. At the request of her many colleagues and fans, Chobot would re-enact her iconic PSP-licking photo, this time with its successor, the PlayStation Vita.
Chobot is a former contributor to FHM UK and Mania.com. She has also hosted a game preview segment for The Daily Habit on Fuel TV, and co-hosted Gamer’s Dojo on Lifeskool TV. She also appeared as a weekly guest on Maxim Radio, where she answered caller questions for an hour each Monday.
Chobot and Ryan Dunn starred in Proving Ground, a program whose airing cycle was disrupted by Dunn’s death in an automotive crash on June 20th, 2011, after the end of production; the program was pulled from airing for a month before returning to finish its run beginning on July 19th, 2011. Chobot’s next career move would bring her to the G4 gaming media television network where she appeared on Filter and Attack of the Show!
Jess In Space
Chobot voiced news reporter Diana Allers, a non-player character modelled in her likeness who is a potential romance option for Commander Shepard, the main character of the 2012 game Mass Effect 3. Chobot hosted a preview of the game for G4 in January 2012, though she was not permitted to review the game as this would trigger a conflict of interest. Chobot married fellow G4 media personality Blair Herter on February 18th, 2012. They had their first and presently only child on March 6th, 2013.
Writing for The Escapist, Dennis Scimeca acknowledged that while many individuals do assume overlapping roles in the field of gaming journalism, he took the view that there are important distinctions to be made between the roles of a journalist, a host and an entertainer.
In a retrospective comment about the controversy, Chobot noted that she was never asked for her side of the story by people who wrote about her in the media. Chobot maintained that she is an on-screen personality who never considered herself a journalist, and that BioWare never asked her for any favours in return.
Unleash The Nerd
On November 4th, 2013, Chobot became the main host of Nerdist News, a news show focusing on nerdy pop culture updates airing 5 days a week on Nerdist.com. Chobot served as the writer for Daylight, a survival-horror game by Zombie Studios. The game launched on April 29th, 2014. On June 26th, 2014, Chobot launched her own podcast dedicated to the weird and supernatural titled Bizarre States. The show is co-hosted by fellow Nerdist Industries’ employee Andrew Bowser and features occasional guests.
In 2015, Chobot was the contestant interviewer on the revived sixth series of robotic combat game show Battlebots, and she portrayed Samus Aran in the short fan-made film Metroid: The Sky Calls, produced by Rainfall Films. On August 5th, 2019, Chobot announced on Twitter (X) that she was leaving Nerdist after six years.
Jess The Myth-Buster
On February 12th, 2020, a spin-off of Travel Channel’s Expedition Unknown named Expedition X premiered on Discovery Channel. The series focuses on paranormal subjects and is co-hosted by Josh Gates, Phil Torres, and Jessica Chobot.
Chobot did not return for the show’s eighth season and was replaced by Heather Amaro. Chobot would later reveal that her departure from the show was an amicable one and she still works for Discovery, leaving Expedition X to film an undisclosed new show which wrapped filming in 2024.
Chobot’s family currently lives in the Netherlands, where they moved in 2022 after Herter left G4 and joined eSports gaming Team Liquid. Chobot is currently supporting her husband while working with Discovery on their new project. She has also revived the Bizarre States podcast, now rebranded as Bizarre States Resurrected.
