Steven Binko

Steven Walter Binko (born February 25, 1988) is an American Entertainer, Public Figure, and Entrepreneur. From 2007 to present day, he has gained international notoriety for developing the world's first fully-interactive reality show titled "The Escape", hosting Nashville's late night tv-show "Binko Talk", authoring "The Divinity Doctrine: A Metaphysical Guide", his performance in the music industry as a singer-songwriter, fashion designer behind the "IC(O)N" and "Instinct" shoes, and for his work as a content-creator behind the web-series "Binko: Unscripted". Born and raised in the Midwest USA, Steven was earlier known in his teen-years for performing magic and competing in ballroom dance. After successfully graduating from New Berlin West High School, he briefly lived in Los Angeles California and Boston Massachusetts to launch a career in acting and modeling. One year later, he re-located to Miami Florida. While in Miami, Steven released the first ever, fully-interactive reality show titled "The Escape" in 2008. Allowing the viewers to select the cast, the challenges they would embark, the food they ate and contributing viewer votes (all while watching live from online), Steven received worldwide recognition in the news for this endeavor. In the final two episodes of the season, "The Escape" was pulled from the broadcast schedule due to a series of controversies on set. Though the show never aired to completion, Steven returned for a final live broadcast to answer viewer questions about the un-aired content. It was revealed that Amanda Ladd (a contestant from New York) was crowned the winner, but would not receive the show prize on a contractual technicality after the cast walked off set mid-season. The Escape was billed the #1 Show on its hosting site as it managed to bring in over 500,000 viewers. That same year, Binko received several awards for his inventive approach to filmmaking including "Best of Milwaukee" and "Best of Atlanta". After several years of development, Binko released an experimental album titled "Sexually Explicit". On October 1, 2010 Steven performed a concert at The Flamingo Resort in Tampa Florida in his first public appearance since "The Escape". Followed by a digital release, Steven received generally favorable reviews despite controversy over his single "Bow Down". In an interview with "Life Improvement Radio", Steven admitted his intention with the song was to get people talking. Other popular songs included: Danger Boi, Get Touch, Shut Ur Lips, Pulse, Step Off. Steven later appeared on GSH radio to announce he was removing his content from all distribution platforms to focus on other projects. Rumors speculating new music have since surfaced after exchanging tweets with #1 Billboard music producer Mike Guerriero, and a surprise performance and collaboration with Gabriel Sanchez of "The Prince Experience". On his 5 year anniversary (November 18th, 2011) Steven married his first husband Miguel Vasquez. In June of 2013 the couple separated and divorced on August 29, 2018. According to court documents, the reason for their divorce was "irreconcilable differences". The plaintiff is documented as his ex-husband Miguel. Initially, both parties asked for privacy and stated the separation was amicable, though Steven later revealed in a webisode he was struggling to come to terms with the split. Miguel later died in October 2020. In 2012, discoveries were made that Steven was secretly conducting psychic readings on the site "Psychics Live" under the alias "Psychic Zach". On November 25, 2012 Steven appeared on a radio interview with Dr. Leigh-Davis to discuss this unseen aspect of his life and revealed a new series he'd begun filming titled "Psychic Diaries". Utilizing a Facebook fan-page to publicly post his predictions, and taking full advantage of the time stamp feature, Steven remains the only psychic to retain a verifiable, near-perfect success rate. His most significant prediction was 39 minutes before the Aurora Theater shooting, when he stated he saw orange hair, bullets, film-strips and people dying. Following the live broadcast of this prediction (on Psychics Live), Steven would not return to the site - one month later, it closed down. On January 17, 2014 Steven became an ordained minister with the ULC Monastery. Specializing in spiritual counseling and psychic development, Steven began traveling internationally for private and group instruction. On February 20 (2014), Steven released his first self-published book titled "The Divinity Doctrine: A Metaphysical Guide". It is designed to serve as a metaphysical reference guide as readers embark on their spiritual journey. Some of the topics included are: techniques for astral projection, a crystal guide, tarot card meanings, psychic development exercises, basic astrology information, and more. Following a serious hospitalization in 2014, Binko announced he was retiring this aspect of his life as he said it was "too emotionally draining". His psychic page on Facebook was deleted mid-2015. July 2015, Steven briefly moved to Nashville Tennessee. Taking to social media, he released a series of mysterious behind the scenes photos developing something at a TV studio. On August 13 he revealed that the photos were of his training with the Nashville Education, Community and Arts Television (NECAT) Network, and announced his new late-night talk show "Binko Talk". Taped in front of a live studio audience, the program featured a variety of celebrity interviews, performances, and games. While conducting his show, Binko also worked as a political correspondent and contributing journalist to a magazine called "Unite". After an interview with Jordan Woods-Robinson from AMC's hit show "The Walking Dead", he returned to video blogging for a live interview with the shows character, and shared a behind the scenes video from a press conference where he interviewed Nashville's mayor Karl Dean. In late 2015, Steven returned to Milwaukee, WI and began channeling his energy into webisodes for a series titled "Binko: Unscripted". In its debut episode, viewers got an intimate and vulnerable look at life behind the camera while Steven tearfully signed his divorce papers. Unlike productions in the past, this is the first time Binko's friends and family have been introduced. Despite its low budget, the series has proven to be a success as the episodes are transformative in nature. Confronting social issues and challenging his beliefs, the reviews from Binko's fans and critics applaud the inspirational and relatable commentary, calling it a "mature development". The series earned him a nomination as "LGBTQ Advocate", to which he became a "Best of Milwaukee" finalist (2018). Now in its second season, the web-series has sparked new controversy. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Binko was hospitalized on September 23, 2020 after consuming several bottles of medication. In the candid discussion with reporter Cathy Kozlowicz, Binko expressed feeling compelled to use the experience to talk about "issues that matter". After obtaining the 911 recording and bodycam footage from responding officers, he revealed it would later be released in an episode of Binko: Unscripted. Discussing his struggle with Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and ADHD, he is quoted as wanting to "continue the conversation" and combat the stigma surrounding mental health. On July 16, 2022 Steven married his long time best-friend Marcin Janusz Gorski at a private ceremony in Kingston, TN.