Thursday, March 28, 2024

Kristen Welker: Former ‘TODAY’ Intern Tapped for New Weekend Anchor Spot [WATCH]

*NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker has been tapped to be the new weekend co-anchor of the “Today” program.

Welker started her career at the network as a “Today” intern more than 20 years ago and now she’s replacing Sheinelle Jones as weekend co-anchor with fellow NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander.

“To have come here as an intern for the Today show, to shoot that reel… I looked so serious,” Welker said after watching an old clip of herself reading the news for her demo reel at age 21 (peep the clip above). “To be terrified like that and then to come and sit at this desk, to sit next to my friend Peter Alexander every Saturday, it is the honor of a lifetime.”

“We are so proud of you … this is really a full-circle moment for you,” “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie said. “We have been watching your career all these years — no one works harder, no is a better colleague, a more generous colleague. Just a delight.”

“Kristen is what I call my ‘big little sister. She is one of my best friends in the world, not just professionally but personally. I really do consider her a part of my family,” said Alexander.

OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Tommy Davidson Goes in on Jamie Foxx in Upcoming Memoir ‘Living in Color’

Meanwhile, here are five things you should know about Welker and her career (via hollywoodlife.com):

1.) She started out on NBC as a TODAY intern. During the montage shown on Jan. 10’s TODAY, it was revealed that Kristen started in the beginning position in 1997. She’s also worked as a fill-in anchor on Weekend TODAY in the past.

2.) She attended Harvard College. She graduated with honors from the prestigious school with a Bachelor of Arts in 1998 after majoring in history.

3.) After becoming an NBC News correspondent in 2011, she’s filled in for many familiar faces. Some of them include Lester Holt, Jose Diaz-Balart, and Kate Snow on NBC Nightly News and Katy Tur on MSNBC.

4.) She grew up in Philadelphia, PA. Born to a white father, who worked as an engineer, and a black mother, who worked as a real estate agent, she went on to graduate from Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia in 1994.

5.) Her journalism dreams date back to when she was a kid. Kristen wanted to be a journalist since she was six-years-old, according to TODAY, and started her professional career as a researcher for Weekend TODAY before going on to get her first on-air job at KRCR in Redding, CA. 

Welker’s first day anchoring the program will be Saturday.

 

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