• Shaunyl Benson is a singer, songwriter, actress, and social media personality, known for being the girlfriend of magician Criss Angel.
• Her net worth is estimated to be over $1 million.
• She is of Filipino descent from her mother, and Irish descent from her father.
• She and Angel were previously married and divorced, then rekindled their romance in 2018.
• They have two children, one of whom was diagnosed with acute leukemia and is now cancer-free.
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Who is Shaunyl Benson?
Shaunyl “Shauny” Benson was born on 29 July 1991, in Queensland, Australia. She is a singer, songwriter, actress, and social media personality, but probably best known for being the girlfriend of magician Criss Angel. The two were previously married, divorced, the reunited. Her husband rose to fame with his work on television and stage in the show called “Criss Angel Mindfreak”.
The Wealth of Shaunyl Benson
Shaunyl Benson has a net worth estimated to be over $1 million, earned thanks through her success in the entertainment industry.
She also probably benefits from the success of Angel, as he has a net worth estimated to be over $50 million.
Early Life and Career
Shaunyl is of Filipino descent from her mother, while her father is Irish. She grew up in Queensland alongside a sister. Her mother worked as a graphic designer, and encouraged her to pursue the arts, leading her to take singing lessons at a young age.
She subsequently pursued work in the entertainment industry, writing a few songs including “Never” which was featured in one of Criss Angel’s television shows. She has also done a few acting projects, beginning with “Jane” which was released in 2017. It is a biographical film following the story of anthropologist Jane Goodall who is known to be the world’s expert in chimpanzees, and was released during the Toronto International Film Festival. The following year she worked on “Desert Rose”, as one of the lead characters in the film, and alongside Curtis Walker as her love interest in the movie.
The film follows the story of a couple living a life of treasure hunting. While she’s worked on numerous projects during her career, her fame really took off thanks to her romance with magician Criss Angel.
Boyfriend and Ex-Husband – Criss Angel
Criss Angel is of Greek descent, was born in 1967 and he grew up in Elmont, New York City. His father operated a doughnut shop and a restaurant in a nearby area. At a young age, he developed a strong interest in magic tricks, and was doing shows at the age of 12.
His biggest influence at the time was the story of Harry Houdini, and he trained with reality television personality Marc Morrone. He attended East Meadow High School, and after matriculating pursued a career in magic instead of enrolling at college. He began traveling and performing with other acts on the road, while furthering his knowledge in the craft.
He didn’t want to be a typical magician, and in 1994 he made his first television appearance in a special entitled “Secrets”.
Clive Barker became one of his earliest supporters, and he also collaborated with musician Klayton to create music with a magic show, appearing in shows such as “The Science of Magic” and its sequel. He also performed magic with people on the streets during his free time. His popularity elevated significantly after he performed an act where he was shackled and submerged underwater for 24 hours. He went through 16 oxygen tanks during the performance, and set the world record for the human to be completely submerged underwater the longest. He quickly rose to star status after the act, leading to a television show.
Criss Angel’s Success
In 2005 Angel created and produced the show “Criss Angel Mindfreak”, which aired on the A&E Network. In the show, he performed many illusions including levitation, walking on water, walking up the side of a building, causing a Lamborghini to disappear, and many more. He became one of the most featured magicians on television, which led to a live illusion show aired at the Luxor casino in Las Vegas, in collaboration with Cirque de Soleil. The act was highly successful, leading to $150 million in revenue in 2010.
It’s going down… @ABCNetwork honored to be a part of. pic.twitter.com/a8nJNJf0Iz
— Criss Angel (@CrissAngel) August 30, 2019
A few of his latest shows include “Phenomenon” and “Criss Angel “BeLIEve”.
Thanks to his work as a magician, he’s accomplished multiple world records and was named Magician of the Decade as well as the Magician of the Century by the International Magicians Society. Aside from magic, he is also the frontman of a band called Angeldust, which has released five albums. He’s also written the book “Mindfreak: Secret Revelations”.
Personal Life
Shaunyl and Criss were married in secret in 2015, but the marriage only lasted for one year before the couple divorced.
This was Angel’s second marriage, as he was previously married to JoAnn Winkhart. Shaunyl later rekindled the romance with her ex-husband in 2018, and the couple now has two children together.
They had a lot more trouble, with one of their children was diagnosed with an acute form of leukemia. They spent a lot of time, effort, and money to treat the child as he went through numerous procedures in three years. In 2019, the couple declared their child is now cancer-free, and he was even able to meet his favorite YouTuber – Ryan from RyanToysReview.
