Heather Childers
Heather Star Childers[3] is an American television news anchor. She was a former anchor of the first hour of Fox & Friends First for Fox News Channel, and worked for the organization from 2010 until 2020.
Heather Star Childers | |
|---|---|
 Heather Childers on Fox News in 2012 | |
| Born | January 7, 1969[1] |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Television news anchor and correspondent |
| Years active | 1992–present |
Biography
Early years
Heather Childers grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. As a young child she attended Sharon Elementary School, in the Foxcroft area of Charlotte, and is a 1987 graduate of Myers Park High School.[2] Childers stated that other Fox News on-air correspondents Ainsley Earhardt and Anna Kooiman, attended the same elementary school, though not at the same time, nor were in the same class.[4] (Kooiman also attended Myers Park HS)[5]
After graduating from high school, she attended the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, then graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning an undergraduate degree in English.[1][2]
Professional career
Childers began her professional career at WCNC-TV in Charlotte as a producer and reporter in 1992. Three years later, she was a weekday anchor and then news director for WFXL in Albany, Georgia. She then moved to WLOS in Asheville, North Carolina in 1999. Then in 2002 she became an anchor for News 14 Carolina.
Childers came to Fox News Channel as a general assignment reporter in the fall of 2010, and became an anchor for America's News Headquarters in August 2011.[6] In 2012 Childers launched Fox News Channel’s 5AM early morning program Fox & Friends First. In 2017 “Fox & Friends First” was expanded and Childers moved to host the 4AM hour as a solo anchor of the show.
In March 2020, Fox News executives expressed concern about Childers coming to work and appearing on air while ill, and took her off the air, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Childers had gone to a CityMD medical clinic to confirm she in fact was not sick, with no fever or cough, both the day before, and her last day on air. Childers talked about this testing in a guest segment with a doctor on March 19 that was scrubbed from the internet by Fox. She also subsequently took two COVID-19 tests, both of which were negative. All medical tests were given to Fox with no response. After repeatedly reaching out to Fox, and after months of no response from the news organization, Childers hired an attorney, reached a settlement, was released from her NDA, and parted ways with the network.
Awards
- National Academy of Television Journalists, Best Female News Anchor[7]
- National Academy of Television Journalists, Best Documentary Readers Choice Award
- Best News Anchor and Best Newscast, The Albany Herald
- Golden Viddy, Best Female News Anchor[8]
- Miss Charlotte Mecklenburg (1993)
- Miss North Carolina Preliminary Winner [2][3]
References
- Former WLOSer Heather Childers lands job at Fox News Channel as NYC reporter and fill-in anchor
- Heather Childers Resume
- "Miss Mecklenburg County". Archived from the original on 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2013-04-10.
- Fox and Friends First autobiographical story, 18 June 2013
- "'Rising' Fox star lands dream gig". Archived from the original on 2013-05-24. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
- "Childers named weekend anchor on Fox News". Charlotteobserver.com. August 22, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
- http://www.angelfire.com/md/NATJ/Who.html
- http://www.angelfire.com/md/NATJ/GVAP.html