Oprah Winfrey has been tapped to kick off Project Angel Food’s third annual telethon — Lead with Love 3 presented by City National Bank — airing live on KTLA 5 on July 23.
Hosted by Eric McCormack and TV personality Jessica Holmes, the telethon will also feature appearances by a long list of boldfaced names including Josh Groban, Sharon Stone, Whoopi Goldberg, Bryce Dallas Howard, Eugene Levy, Paula Abdul, Fran Drescher, Gloria Estefan, Beth Hall, Sean Hayes, Karamo Brown, Rachel Lindsay, Lori Loughlin, Ross Mathews, Pauley Perrette, Melissa Peterman, Danny Pino, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Nicole Sullivan, Holland Taylor and a Charlie’s Angels reunion thanks to original stars Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd.
Loni Love and Alec Mapa are booked to return as co-hosts, while the musical program includes pre-recorded performances from Sarah McLachlan, Five for Fighting and Pat Benatar with Neil Giraldo. Debbie Gibson and Taylor Dayne will perform live at KTLA Studios in Hollywood.
“Oprah delivers a powerful opening to our show, encouraging us all to rise to the challenge of our current moment through compassion and empathy that has a lasting impact on our community,” said executive producer Brad Bessey who also serves as head of communications and talent relations for Project Angel Food.
Bessey is joined on the executive producer roster by veteran live event and unscripted producer Michael Levitt (American Rescue Dog Show, Daytime Emmy Awards), Project Angel Food CEO Richard Ayoub, and KTLA’s Marcus Smith and Jacob Burch for KTLA. Michelle Robinson returns as co-exec producer.
“While this year’s show will be a jam-packed, entertaining, two hours of celebrity, music, comedy and heartwarming profiles of our clients and our work, we can’t lose sight of our goal — to raise $1 million in just one night,” said Ayoub. “Because of increasing demand and skyrocketing fuel and food costs, it costs us $1 million more to serve L.A.’s critically ill this year than it did last year. We are trusting the sponsorships and donations made by viewers during Lead with Love 3 to bridge that gap.”
Since premiering in June 2020, Lead with Love has raised $2 million for Project Angel Food’s work of feeding critically ill men, women and children in Los Angeles County. The organization prepares and delivers more than 1.2 million medically tailored meals each year.
