Entertainment reporter Bush could have pursued politics like his uncle George H.W. or his cousin George W. Instead, he opted for the world of entertainment, starting out in radio. In 1997, he made a splash on his relatives' turf as the host of the Washington, D.C., gag-happy morning show Billy Bush and the Bush League, but it was a 2001 appearance on the entertainment-news program Extra that led to Bush's small-screen career. He was a natural on camera and was soon invited to contribute segments to Today. By the end of that year he was working as an Access Hollywood correspondent, and in 2004 he was promoted to full-fledged co-anchor. Unafraid to pose outrageous questions or poke fun at celebrities' images — he served pizza to Victoria's Secret models and asked Penélope Cruz if she could spell then-boyfriend Matthew McConaughey's surname — Bush was impossible to ignore. After emceeing numerous specials, including beauty pageants and award-show countdowns, Bush landed a gig as the cohost of the Broadway reality series Grease: You're the One That I Want in 2007. In 2008, he went back to his radio roots and launched The Billy Bush Show, a nationally syndicated talk and music radio program. Meanwhile, he continued to expand his presence on TV and became a co-host on daytime’s Access Hollywood Live in 2010.