Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Skip Bayless’s wife, Ernestine Sclafani, is an experienced PR agent and media relations expert from Long Island, New York.
She never paid much attention to sports and never expected to marry a sports enthusiast like Skip Bayless.
Highlights
- Skip Bayless and Ernestine Sclafani met for the first time on the set of Cold Pizza, and their awkward chat left a lasting impression on them.
- After eleven years of dating, they were married in a private ceremony that only a few staff members witnessed.
- Noushin Faraji, a longtime hairstylist at Fox Sports, sued him for sexual harassment.
John Edward Bayless II, aka Skip Bayless, was interested in sports early and became the president of the Northwest Classen’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter.
His English teacher urged him to be the primary sports columnist for the school newspaper in his junior and senior years. Later, he was awarded the Grantland Rice Scholarship to attend Vanderbilt University.
He wrote sports features in The Miami Herald over two years before joining the Los Angeles Times in August 1976.
In 1977, he won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Newspaper Writing for covering Seattle Slew’s Triple Crown victory. Afterward, the Dallas Morning News hired him to write its lead sports column at 26.
However, after 17 years, in 1998, he left Dallas to become the lead sports columnist for the Chicago Tribune, where he won the Lisagor Award for excellence in sports column writing.
Skip Bayless And Ernestine Sclafani Shared An Immediate Connection In 2006
Skip Bayless and Ernestine Sclafani met for the first time on the set of Cold Pizza when she accompanied a client who was scheduled to appear on the show.
Their relationship began in an unusual but memorable way. He glanced into the green room and met their eyes while he retrieved his notes.
. @RealSkipBayless explains why his personal life will always come second to his career:
— The Skip Bayless Show (@SkipBaylessShow) January 27, 2022
“I'm married to this…when I met my wife I told her, 'You’ll always be number 2 to my job, which is my life.'” pic.twitter.com/trfebrQy3r
Their awkward chat left a lasting impression on them, and they immediately connected. Skip confessed that he could barely focus on his task even though he was completely immersed in his work.
They dated for several years, and he proposed to her during a July 2010 flight from Newark to Oklahoma City. They married in a low-key, private ceremony on July 28, 2016.
After 11 years together, the lovebirds married without letting others know, except for the judge and a few staff members as witnesses.
Ernestine learned his commitment to watching games, and her friends often wonder how she manages to watch so many sports with him.
However, even if she doesn’t understand his passion for sports, it’s about spending time with him. She would dress up for dates early in their relationship only to find him fixated on the TV once the game started.
Ernestine has established herself as a successful public relations professional and runs her Los Angeles-based firm, Ernestine Sclafani Bayless PR.
Her firm specializes in consumer lifestyle, fashion, sports, event planning, integrated marketing, and nutrition.
Furthermore, she is also the author of Balls: How to Keep Your Relationship Alive When You Live with a Sports-Obsessed Guy, published in 2019.
Although they have been happily married, they don’t have children. Skip chose not to have kids because he felt his career would diminish his ability to be a good father.
The public relations guru supported his decision.
If you’ll excuse the digression. I chose in my twenties as I was coming up in this business to not have children. I married not my high school sweetheart but my junior high sweetheart and one reason we didn’t make it was- I knew she wanted kids, and the deeper I got into my career, I knew- I just couldn’t have kids. I’m obsessed to this moment in what I’m doing right here, right now, with you. I live for this, it’s my whole life, it’s my calling. It’s not a job, it’s my passion. It was what I was born to do, and I want to continue to do as long as my personal situation will allow it.
Skip Bayless
Skip Bayless Sued For Sexual Harassment
Noushin Faraji, a longtime hairstylist at Fox Sports, sued Fox Sports, alleging she was fired for raising concerns about workplace misconduct.
She repeatedly refused to sleep with Skip Bayless and declined his offer of $1.5 million to sleep with him.
Afterward, Skip angrily accused her of sleeping with his co-host Shannon Sharpe, but she denied it. He also said he didn’t want her to lose her job over this incident.
Approximately one week later, Mr. Bayless made another advance at Ms. Faraji.
The Lawsuit Stated
Ms. Faraji responded: “Skip, stop, you have a wife.” Mr. Bayless responded: “Aren’t you Muslim? Doesn’t your dad have three to four wives?”
Ms. Faraji responded that her father was dead, and when Mr. Bayless looked taken aback, she made an excuse to leave.
She alleged that the Fox human resources department protected powerful abusers like Skip Bayless, Charlie Dixon, and Joy Taylor.
Moreover, Skip made numerous unrequited advances toward her for several years. He would kiss her on the cheek and give her lingering hugs, pressing his body against hers.
Later, he became more aggressive and direct, but she declined his advances, saying she didn’t date at work. He said he had loved her for six years, and she had hurt him.
Noushin is Iranian and was subjected to racial and ethnic discrimination while working.
When Ms. Faraji and others came forward to report the wrongdoing, instead of addressing their concerns, Fox retaliated against them while the perpetrators and those who protected them were inexplicitly (sic) promoted.
Noushin Faraji
Additional Information
- Skip Bayless, the son of John Bayless Sr and Levita Bayless, was born on December 4, 1951, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
- His younger brother, Rick Bayless, carried their family tradition and became a restaurateur chef and television personality.
- He was a Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity member and majored in English and history at Vanderbilt University.
- His net worth is estimated at $17 million as of 2025, and he earns $7 million annually.
