Jessie Pavelka was born on September 26, 1982 in Corpus Christi, Texas. Both of his parents are still living in Texas -- his mother, in Corpus Christi, and father, in Denton. The 6' 0" fitness model studied at Calallen High School. Jessie has always been involved in athletics from an early age. His mother took him to the track since he was in the fourth grade and he also played a lot of football in high school.When he turned 19, he attended the University of North Texas, with intentions to play football and study business. However, after 16 years of devotion to the sport, he decided to focus on finding another passion. Leaving behind something he'd done for so long was life changing, but from that, he managed to put more effort into fitness and health and learning more about that. While he was studying at UNT, he enjoyed going to Lake Lewisville on the weekends when the sun was out.At UNT, he got certified as a trainer. Initially, the whole trainer idea was supposed to be a temporary job for him. As it turns out, the right thing he'd been looking for was to help people get healthy. His first big break in the industry was when he met Ed Conners. Ed approached him and encouraged him to do something with his physique, noting that Jessie had something more in himself. That was the point the Texas native decided to dedicate his life to fitness and health.At 21-years-old, he decided to move to California to pursue fitness. Jessie then started to compete in bodybuilding and got himself involved in fitness modeling. In his first bodybuilding competition, he came in fourth. After moving to Los Angeles, he continued bodybuilding and modeling. He also started a personal training business with Australian Fitness Star, David Rylah. Both David and him started out their own personal training business for bariatric patients. They worked with a doctor who would refer his patients to them. Finding out what he shouldn't be doing helped Jessie let people know what they should be doing.Initially, when Jessie came out to California for the first time, bodybuilding was his life although he didn't consider himself leading a healthy lifestyle at the time. When he had enough of that, his girlfriend at the time and him decided to move back to Texas and he became a super attendant for a commercial construction company. Because he hated his job, Jessie thought it would be a wise idea for him to move back to his hometown and do some soul searching.July 7, 2007, proved to be an important day in Jessie's life. he woke up and had a spiritual experience. The hunky trainer told himself that moving back to California would be the right decision to make but he had to do it the right way. On that same day, he wrote a five and a ten year plan, and 2 months later, he headed back out again and ended up in Long Beach. His first job after that was as a personal trainer for an eminent financial figure. Jessie traveled with him, mostly dealing with that client's diet and training.By October 2008, Jessie has appeared in numerous fitness magazines, three of them being the cover model. Soon after that, his agent, Gar Lester, called him and persuaded him to audition as a host for a reality show, Diet Tribe. At first, he was wary of reality TV, but he liked Diet Tribe's concept and he also knew the impact the show could have on the audience. He did the audition for the show, and while thinking about how badly he needed something to take him to next step in his career, the producers of the show called him. He went back to them, wrote up a diet and exercise program and ended up training a lady from the production company together with another female trainer. Before Jessie knew it, he learned that the producers enjoyed everything he did and they immediately decided to sign him on.The first series of DietTribe (2009) started airing on January 5, 2009 on Lifetime and on its first night, the show got number one ratings. A second series has been airing since October 2, 2009. Jessie's previous TV experience also included a starring role in Friday Night Lights and Rita Rocks. In October 2008, he announced to Rob Riches from LA Muscle that he was going to appear in a comedy web series, The Rise and Fall of Tuck Johnson, as Peter Porker.Aside from Jessie's top notch physique, he's also got a few tattoos to boast about. His first tattoo is a Japanese symbol for inner power and strength. He got it when he was almost turning eighteen. Shortly after that, he got the cross on his right arm that he drew himself. On his stomach, he's also got a tattoo that says 'Fear No Man' in Japanese. He also has another tattoo on his side that says 'For My Brother' in cursive writing, which he got for his best friend. There is also a tattoo on his wrist which is the alpha and the omega symbol. He got that tattoo because of a necklace his mother gave him with the same symbol. On Jessie's left ring finger, there is also a cross ring which he got while he was in a relationship with a previous girlfriend. Finally, he also has two tribal angel wings on his back, mostly for symbolic reasons.According to a recent interview he did, Jessie told the press that he got married to Sitara Hewitt, a Canadian actress, whom he met through a mutual friend. The couple tied the knot on September 18, 2009. Not many people know this, but Jessie and the new star of The Bachelor (2002), Jake Pavelka, are distant cousins. Although these two have never met, Jessie's dad mentioned that he met Jake's dad, but growing up, Jessie never got the chance to know Jake. Even so, Jessie truly supports the fact that Jake is going to be on The Bachelor. He also hopes that Jake does a good job and finds love.At 27-year-old, Jessie is already making himself a household name by being one of Hollywood's top fitness experts. With all the success he has now as well as his humble attitude, we're pretty sure that Jessie is going to sail through his career in the coming years. Show less «