Hollywood’s Tom Bergeron Returns as Haverhill’s Favorite Son for Photo Shoot

Television personality Tom Bergeron returned to his roots Tuesday, sitting down at WHAV with photographer Kelly Giordano to tell audiences about a recent photo shoot that celebrated his broadcasting career and Haverhill roots.

Bergeron told WHAV “Win for Breakfast” host Win Damon that he found Giordano when he realized he needed an updated set of publicity photos. His niece, Ally Vallieres, convinced him Kelly Giordano and The Haverhill Studio were more than up to the task. Vallieres owns The Yoga Tree and Giordano is her near neighbor in downtown Haverhill.

“I think my last professional head shot—my hair was much darker. It’s been a while. And also I am not great with still photos typically as Kelly now knows. Like on the red carpet in Hollywood or something when you have a bunch of photographers yelling at you to smile at them and all that, I always look as if I am passing a kidney stone,” Bergeron joked.

Bergeron’s career was launched in 1972 at WHAV after he was mentored by his Haverhill High School public speaking instructor and WHAV News Director Edwin V. Johnson. Giordano, 38, who opened her photography space in 2024, said she was definitely up for the challenge of capturing Bergeron’s famous mug, but in a way that expressed his inner spirit.

“When I had him against my backdrop and he’s saying this, I said, ‘Wow, this is going to be fun for me’ because it was a chance to connect like I do with all my clients. And we really created some great material,” Giordano said.

But Giordano knew she needed to go beyond the common, staid headshot image to capture Bergeron’s playful side as well. She also understood that Bergeron wanted to ground the images in his hometown of Haverhill as he started his broadcast career at WHAV while a student at Haverhill High School.

“We’re like, this can’t be the corporate headshot. That’s just not Tom. Everyone knows what Tom looks like. We don’t need to tell that story. What we wanted to do was give him more of an editorial, elevated, authentic use of images he could use across media platforms but really tie his community roots to that,” Giordano said.

Bergeron said he had ideas about what he wanted, but was happy to allow Giordano to bring her own creative influences to their session.

“She had a wealth of ideas about how to do it and got props like the very microphone that she’s talking into that has the WHAV logo on it. So, it really was for me a wonderful way to, through her skill as a photographer, kind of pay tribute to my 50-plus year career,” Bergeron said.

He said he couldn’t be more pleased with the portfolio of pictures Giordano produced from their 90-minute photo session.

“What we did together was really focused on kind of celebrating, not only my broadcasting career, but its roots here in Haverhill because this is where I started when I was in high school,” Bergeron said.

Bergeron said he also came away with a new respect for the number of business owners, particularly younger women, who are making downtown Haverhill a thriving business and creative destination.

“You’re indicative, I think, of some real entrepreneurial spirit in Haverhill, particularly among young women like my niece, like you, like the gang at Stem. That whole area has really become very vibrant in downtown Haverhill,” Bergeron said.

Fellow Haverhill student Phil Primack stopped by to give Bergeron a black and white photograph of Bergeron taken when he studied mime at Northern Essex Community College. Bergeron is pictured in, what he describes as, an “unfortunate Abe Lincoln-type beard,” with two partners performing as part of the trio, “Vaudomime,” five decades ago.

Bergeron, longtime host of ABC-TV’s “Dancing with The Stars,” recently made an appearance—the first time in five years—as a guest judge for the 20th anniversary show. He also sp

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