Early life
Champion was born in June 1975 and raised in Pasadena, California.[2] Champion attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she majored in English and minored in mass communications. She wrote for the Daily Bruin and was inspired to pursue a career in journalism by UCLA alumni, including Matea Gold of the Los Angeles Times, who spoke in her classes.[3] Champion was drawn to journalism with goals of transforming negative stereotypes of African Americans: "I wanted to give people a voice that didn't have a voice. I'm always fighting for the underdog. I don't know where I got it from, but I've been like that all my life. That's why I love journalism."[4] In her junior year, she studied in Washington, D.C. and earned an internship at CNN.[3] Champion graduated from UCLA in 1998,[3] with an English degree.[4]Career
Champion began her broadcasting career at several television stations.[4] She moved to West Virginia for her first reporting job.[1] She later said of working there: "I was a one-man-band carrying a camera and a tripod and that was God-awful. But I loved it because I wanted to do it. I always wanted to be a reporter."[4] She was a reporter at the Orange County Newschannel in Santa Ana, California before joining WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach, Florida in the same capacity in 2002.[5]In November 2007, while working as an anchor for WGCL-TV in Atlanta, Champion was fired for allegedly uttering a profanity over the air. She appealed the firing and said in an interview for the Maynard Institute that the floor director had not cued her and her co-anchor following a commercial break, and that the microphone picked up a conversation they were having about an unhandy mechanical screenwriter: "I called the screenwriter a 'mothersucka' not the f-bomb."[6] She was rehired in January 2008, but left shortly after in March for a broadcasting job outside of Atlanta.[7]
After moving to Florida, Champion covered news such as human interest stories and devastating hurricanes in the state.[1] While working as a reporter there, she developed an affinity for tennis after covering players such as Venus and Serena Williams: "They made me love the sport even more. They opened the door to tennis for so many different people."[4] She subsequently auditioned for the Tennis Channel's burgeoning news department and was one of three women selected from a pool of more than fifty candidates.[4] She joined the network in 2009.[8] Champion worked as a courtside reporter,[1] and anchored the channel's Court Report news segment.[4] She also worked as an entertainment reporter for the Starz network and shows such as The Insider and Hollywood 411.[3]
First Take crew |
Heidi Watney |
Jemele Hill |
Personal life
Champion grew up as an avid basketball fan. She is a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers and the UCLA Bruins.[4] According to her, she is 6 feet 1 inch tall "with heels".[2] Before working on the show, Champion was an avid watcher of First Take: "I love the barbershop debates that make First Take feel different than other programs".[1] She currently lives in Connecticut.[10]To see more of Who Is click here