Justin Guarini (born
Justin Eldrin Bell on
October 28,
1978 in
Columbus, Georgia) is an
American singer/
songwriter,
actor who rose to fame in 2002 as the first runner-up on the debut season of the television show
American Idol.
His father,
Eldrin Bell, is a former
Atlanta, Georgia
Chief of Police, and current
Chairperson of Clayton County Commission (Georgia). His mother, Kathy Pepino Guarini, was a
journalist for
WTVM TV in Columbus, and later for
CNN. Guarini was raised by his mother and stepfather, physicist Jerry Guarini, in
Doylestown, Pennsylvania.