Erin Jill Andrews is a journalist, anchor, and television personality from the United States. She is the host of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” and a Fox NFL sideline reporter. As a kid, she was a self-described tomboy, and sports have always been a big part of her life. She began her career as a freelance reporter for Fox Sports Florida after completing her education. She worked as a reporter for various news networks between 2001 and 2004, before being hired by ESPN for ‘ESPN National Hockey Night.’ She went on to work as a sideline reporter for ‘ESPN College Football Saturday Primetime’ and for Big Ten college basketball games. By 2005, her duties had expanded to include ‘ESPN College Football Thursday Primetime’ and MLB sideline reporting. In 2010, Andrews joined ESPNU as the host of College GameDay, a position she held until her departure from the network in 2012 to join Fox Sports. She took on several roles at her new network, including hosting ‘Fox College Football’ and contributing to Fox NFL Sunday. She has been the co-anchor of ABC’s ‘Dancing with the Stars’ since 2014, and she works as a sideline reporter for Fox Sports’ lead NFL Broadcasting crew.
Childhood and Adolescence
Erin Andrews was born in Lewiston, Maine, on May 4, 1978, to Steven and Paula Andrews. Her mother is a teacher, and her father is a television journalist who has won six Emmy Awards. Her family moved to San Antonio when she was five years old, and then to Valrico, Florida, 18 months later, after her father got a job as an investigative reporter for NBC affiliate WFLA-TV. Aside from Erin, the Andrews have another daughter, Kendra, who is a professional dancer and actress.
She grew up watching NBA games with her father and developed a strong attachment to the Boston Celtics. Hannah Storm, Melissa Stark, Lesley Visser, and Suzy Kolber were all role models for her as she pursued a career as a female sportscaster.
She attended Bloomingdale High School in Valrico, Florida, where she was a member of the dance team, student government, and the National Honors Society, among other things. She also attended the Brandon School of Dance Arts in Seffner, Florida, in addition to her traditional education. She didn’t have many female friends in high school because she was a tomboy, preferring the company of boys with whom she could talk about sports.
Andrews enrolled at the University of Florida after graduating from high school in 1996, where she earned a Bachelors of Arts degree in Telecommunications in 2000. From 1997 to 2010, she was a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority and the Florida Dazzlers dance team, and she was a standout student in her class.
Career of Erin
Erin Andrews began her career as a studio host and reporter for Turner South Network in Atlanta, where she covered local sports teams after freelancing for Fox Sports Florida.
In April 2004, she joined ESPN to cover the National Hockey League for ‘ESPN National Hockey Night.’ She also covered the ‘College World Series,’ ‘Little League World Series,’ and the ‘Great Outdoor Games.’ Between 2008 and 2010, she worked as a reporter for ESPN and ABC, covering the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee live.
Andrews made a comment linking Texas Christian University Horned Frogs football players’ slipping on the turf to their use of Nike shoes after signing a major endorsement deal with Reebok in January 2011. ESPN then issued new endorsement guidelines for its employees, effectively forcing her to terminate the contract within a year.
Andrews left ESPN in June 2012 to join Fox Sports as the first host of the Fox College Football Studio show. Later, analysts Eddie George and Joey Harrington joined her at the table. Following the launch of Fox Sports 1, she also served as a guest host on ‘Fox College Football Kickoff’ and ‘Fox College Saturday.’ She took over as the sideline reporter for Fox’s lead NFL broadcasting crew in July 2013, replacing Pam Oliver.
She debuted as a contestant on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ in its tenth season, and she and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy finished third out of 11 couples. Beginning with the 18th season in February 2014, Andrews took over as co-host from Brooke Burke-Charvet.
Controversy Is Following You
Michael David Barrett, a former Chicago-area insurance executive, secretly filmed Andrews through a peephole at the Nashville Marriott near Vanderbilt University in 2008 and again at the Radisson Airport Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2009.
On July 16, 2009, one of those videos, in which she was seen completely naked in her hotel room, was released online. Barrett was arrested by the FBI on October 2 after the video went viral. On December 15, he pleaded guilty to interstate stalking charges.
Barrett’s hard drive also contained another video, which was never made public. Barrett was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to serve three years of supervised probation, pay $5,000 in fines, and pay $7,366 in restitution by US District Judge Manuel Real on March 15, 2010.
In October 2015, Andrews filed a civil lawsuit against Barrett and Nashville Marriott for $75 million. The jury awarded her $55 million in damages after the trial began in late February 2016 and ended on March 7.
Work in the Social Sector
Andrews was one of the spokespersons for Kraft Foods’ ‘Huddle to Fight Hunger’ in 2010. The goal of the campaign was to raise $2.86 million for Feeding America.
In May 2011, Andrews co-hosted the CMT Disaster Relief Fund’s ‘Music Builds: The CMT Disaster Relief Fund’ with HLN’s Robin Meade and comedian Ron White. The event, which was held to raise money for tornado victims in Oklahoma on April 27, featured performances by Hank Williams Jr, Alabama, Keith Urban, and Trace Adkins, among others. The concert’s proceeds went entirely to the Red Cross Relief Fund.
In October 2011, she teamed up with StubHub, the world’s largest online ticket marketplace, to launch a new nationwide initiative called ‘Girls Night Out,’ in order to encourage other women to celebrate and take pride in their love of sports.
Personal Experiences of Erin
Jarret Stoll, a professional hockey player, and Erin Andrews began dating in December 2012. The couple became engaged four years later, and on June 24, 2017, they married in a private sunset ceremony in Montana. She is now based in Los Angeles, California, after previously residing in Atlanta, Georgia.
She was diagnosed with cervical cancer in September 2016 and had surgery on October 11. She was back at work two weeks later. Her doctor told her on November 17 that the margins were clear and that she wouldn’t need radiation or chemotherapy.
Estimated Net Worth
Erin Andrews has a net worth of $30 million after working for networks such as ESPN and hosting a variety of shows and games.
Trivia
Andrews was voted “America’s Sexiest Sportscaster” in Playboy magazine polls in 2007 and 2008.