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Christie lands a spot on Barbara Walters' 'Most Fascinating' list

Gov. Christie's celebrity star keeps rising higher. Three days after he did a not-half-bad bit on Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update," it emerged that Christie has landed a spot on Barbara Walters' list of the "10 Most Fascinating People" of 2012.

In this Nov. 3, 2012 file photo, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie comforts Kerri Berean in Little Ferry, N.J., after Superstorm Sandy caused a tidal surge on the Hackensack River that overtook a natural berm protecting the town. (AP Photo/The Star-Ledger, David Gard, Pool, File)
In this Nov. 3, 2012 file photo, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie comforts Kerri Berean in Little Ferry, N.J., after Superstorm Sandy caused a tidal surge on the Hackensack River that overtook a natural berm protecting the town. (AP Photo/The Star-Ledger, David Gard, Pool, File)Read moreAP
    by By Joseph A. Gambardello, Inquirer Staff Writer
    Published 

Gov. Christie's celebrity star keeps rising higher.

Three days after he did a not-half-bad bit on Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update," it emerged that Christie has landed a spot on Barbara Walters' list of the "10 Most Fascinating People" of 2012.

Walters went to the State House in Trenton on Tuesday to interview the governor and his wife, Mary Pat, for the 90-minute ABC special, to air Dec. 12.

The news that Christie made Walters' cut came on the same day the New York Times reported he has been busy trying to heal a rift with fellow Republicans still miffed that he spoke positively about President Obama's leadership during the Hurricane Sandy crisis a week before the election.

Joining a "Most Fascinating" list that includes Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton may not help on that front, just as becoming buddies with his idol - and Obama supporter - Bruce Springsteen raised eyebrows in some GOP circles.

Walters, for her part, told the Associated Press that she found Christie to be "pleasant, smart, funny," and "good-natured."

He made her list because of his handling of Sandy and because "he's probably now the best-known governor in America," Walters said.

Never mind that Oprah Winfrey already found him fascinating in an hour-long interview on Oprah's Next Chapter in January.

Among those also on Walters' list are Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas; Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane; E.L. James, author of 50 Shades of Grey; the boy band One Direction; and the actor-director Ben Affleck.