LAS VEGAS—Digital Playground contract performer Riley Steele has been named host of the 28th annual AVN Awards Show on Jan. 8, 2011 inside the Pearl Concert Theater at the Palms Casino Resort.
The ceremony, which will be co-hosted by a second adult actress who will be announced in the coming weeks, for the third straight year will be filmed for a national cable television broadcast on the Showtime network.
Minutes after Steele heard the news of her selection, the excitable star asked “How many dresses do I get to wear?”
“I’m ecstatic,” said the 22-year-old native of San Diego. “I had no idea that this is what it was going to be. This is huge.”
Steele, who launched her career in a memorable way in 2008 when she performed in Digital Playground’s AVN Award-winning epic Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge, is no stranger to the big stage. She has already danced before tens of thousands of fans at a Kid Rock concert, a moment she’ll never forget.
“You definitely realize that everybody wants to be a rock star when they grow up because that’s a feeling most people will never get, all those people screaming at you, you’re very lucky to get to experience something like that,” Steele said. “And that’s been a lifelong dream of mine since I was a little girl…That was a trip. I mean things just keep getting better, it’s crazy.”
AVN founder Paul Fishbein said Steele became an attractive choice for a variety of reasons.
“Having worked with her last year on the show—she did a lot of promotional stuff—she was a total pro. Really smart, very beautiful and the kind of girl you can count on,” Fishbein said. “She’s a natural. When we hire girls to be the host what we look for is, can they carry a show? If you need to go to them, can they be spontaneous, can they think on their feet? Even though it’s a TV show it’s a live event for an audience and she matches every quality. And even though she’s young and even though she’s only been in the business a couple years she just has what it takes.
“And she’s got great screen presence when you see her on film. So I think audiences will love her.”
Steele is also coming soon to a theater near you as she’ll make her mainstream feature film debut later this summer in Piranha 3-D. She filmed in Lake Havasu, Ariz., for seven weeks last summer.
Soon after she wrapped that role, Steele shot what has become her favorite scene of her still blossoming career for So Fine.
“I had to shoot Piranha for three months and I didn’t get to shoot any Digital movies in forever and I wasn’t really having any sex at all in Arizona, and so I was really horny when I came back," she admitted. "So that one I had my first squirting scene ever, that’s my favorite one.”
Steele, who worked at Starbucks and also did shifts at a golf course snack bar before adult, said she enjoys her life as a porn star.
“I really like being with Digital Playground. I like being taken care of. I like opportunities like this, being presented with class and elegance,” Steele told AVN. “I love my job. I love it. I just want to keep doing more and more and more.”
The next Digital Playground movie set for release featuring the sexy performer is called Bar Pussy. She can also be seen in the company's upcoming firefighter epic Body Heat later this year.
For a photo gallery from Thursday night's announcement, click here.
