Steve Wilkos

Last night was my first day in the office after the first two parts of my tour. I have to say it was almost surreal. We were out late shooting some segments on kids living in the street which was really exciting because we were trying to reconnect one girl with her father in order to try to get him back involved in her life.

Now I can't wait to start taping in studio and seeing the shows come together. I have to say, at first I was a little bit apprehensive about doing this show but now I'm really geared up for it.

Last week on the tour we hit San Diego where I got to go to the Miramar Marine base. I have to say Miramar has been my favorite part of the tour so far. I haven't been back to a base since I was in the Marines and I immediately felt like I was back again.

There was terrific camaraderie out there and I really would like to do more stuff with the Marines. Just driving on to the base and having to go through the MPs, or passing a chow hall really brought back memories of my service. A lot came back to me that you forget, but a lot of things are different now too. I noticed that they no longer wore boots that needed to be shined every day. I wish I had that during my years.

We then went to LA, which was so overwhelming because the studio wants to prep and coach you to get ready for the critics tour. In the end though, I was told to just go out there and be myself which was what I did and everything seemed to go really well.

In Chicago, we're just not exposed to that kind of press, or walking down a red carpet. So it's kind of crazy in LA but everyone is nice, most of the articles that came out of it were pretty positive about the show.

We then traveled to Phoenix where I got to shave heads at Banner Children's Hospital for St. Baldrick's, as well as have lunch with the station managers at the Fox group. When I first came down here to sell the show, they were quiet and I didn't think they were going to buy my show and when I told them this they said that was the name of the game in order to do business.

I'm really learning aspects of the business that I never saw being second banana on "Springer."

We finished up this leg in Sacramento where we did some terrific radio. There must be a lot of "Springer" fans there because we got a ton of calls. It is really more fun doing radio in studio than as a phoner.

We had a great time.

We just wrapped up our first week of my national tour to promote the upcoming launch of “The Steve Wilkos Show” as well as to drive awareness to The St. Baldrick's Foundation which is dedicated to fighting children’s cancer.

I don’t want to jinx myself but I’ve got to say it, so far everything has been amazing, the stations, the fans and the people supporting the Foundation.

Everyone seems to know that this show is coming and I think that’s such a good feeling, especially when we are working with Headblade to use that momentum to help St. Baldrick’s.

Right from the start in New York, we were able to get people to come out and shave their heads in an effort to make people aware of kids with cancer.

This is a problem that touches me in so many different levels, including that my nephew has cancer.

New York is also great in that just walking down the street, you run into so many “Springer” fans, and everyone seems to know that I’m getting my own show and wishing me luck. I took my family here a couple of weeks ago for Promax and we got flooded with fans. My wife was laughing and said she was going to take the kids and play “you entertain everybody.” So, I was able to stay and take pictures and meet some terrific people.

It’s strange to see how many people know me, in Chicago of course, where we tape the show, people everywhere recognize me. But to see that elsewhere in the country is truly amazing.

We also had a good turnout in Baltimore, where we got some kids to come up and shave their heads and got a lot of good messages across. The one thing about Baltimore, is that everybody always says I look like baseball great Cal Ripken Jr., who is a legend, and I’ve even been confused with him a number of times!

One of those times goes all the way back to 1982, when I was still a cop. I walked into a store where they make suits, and they immediately started putting suits on me, which were made for Mr. Ripken.

The funny thing is that he’s the one guy I’ve never met. I did meet a woman that is best friends with him and was telling her all kinds of Cal Ripken stories where people assumed I was him.

She invited me to play in Cal’s charity golf tournament and meet him and I’m looking forward to doing that, especially since the charity is Badges for Kids. That’s right up my alley.

This week I’m in the west coast, visiting San Diego, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Sacramento. I’ll keep you posted.