Shelly Dass-Manning is a

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

ian journalist who worked as a television

news presenter A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

through May 2010.Ali, Ken (28 May 2010). Shelly Dass signs off, ''

Trinidad Guardian The ''Trinidad and Tobago Guardian'' (together with the ''Sunday Guardian'') is the oldest daily newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago. The paper is considered the newspaper of record for Trinidad and Tobago. History Its first edition was published ...

'', Retrieved December 21, 2010 She was anchor of the nightly newscast on Cable News Channel 3.There's something about Shelly: TV anchor Shelly Dass tells how faith gives her life that extra 'something'
''Upstream Magazine'', Retrieved December 21, 2010

Childhood and early career

Dass was born and raised in the oil community of Pointe-a-Pierre, south Trinidad. Her father was a senior employee of

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company unt ...

, Trintoc, and state-owned

Petrotrin Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (Petrotrin) was a state-owned oil company in Trinidad and Tobago. Its principal activities were the exploration, development and production of hydrocarbons in addition to the manufacturing and mar ...

for many years. She was educated at St Peters' Private Primary School in Pointe-a-Pierre, St. Joseph's Convent, and later, Oral Roberts University in the United States, where she studied broadcast journalism. She is the holder of a master's degree from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

Anchorwoman

Dass was a news anchor at both

CCN TV6 The Caribbean Communications Network Television 6 (CCN TV6) is a Trinidadian free-to-air television network. It operates an analog NTSC television system, broadcasting on channels 6 and 18 in the island of Trinidad and channel 19 in Tobago. Its ...

(where she started in September 1998) and

Trinidad and Tobago Television TTT Limited, is a state owned national television broadcaster in Trinidad and Tobago with its headquarters located at 11 A Maraval Road, Port of Spain. The company formerly operated two stations; TTT channels 2 & 13 from 1962 to 2005, and Al ...

, prior to her stint at Cable News Channel 3. She was a co-presenter of ''Morning Edition'' and later the anchor of the ''News At Ten'' on TV6, and the CCN TV6 news at 7, before moving to the anchor chair at TTT's ''Panorama''. She briefly returned to TV6 in 2005, before joining

CNC3 CNC3 Television (CNC3) is a television station privately owned by Guardian Media Limited serving Trinidad and Tobago. It broadcasts over-the-air on channels 12 and 14 and is seen throughout the FLOW cable system on channel 3 (DVS) or 103 (AVS) ...

. She was also the producer and moderator of the current affairs programme ''The Big Story'' on

. With Dass as both producer and host, the show won 4 awards for analysis and coverage three months into its airing. Dass returned to Trinidad in 2015 and was carded to be the moderator of the Prime Minister's Debate between then Prime Minister,

Kamla Persad-Bissessar Kamla Persad-Bissessar ( ; born Kamla Susheila Persad, 22 April 1952), often referred to by her initials KPB, is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian lawyer, politician and educator who is the Leader of the Opposition of Trinidad and Tobago, politic ...

and then Opposition Leader, Dr.

Keith Rowley Keith Christopher Rowley (born 24 October 1949) is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian politician serving as the seventh prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, first elected into office on 9 September 2015 and again following the 2020 general elect ...

. This debate however, never happened. In 2015, Dass returned to CNC3 to anchor the station's 10 year anniversary newscast along with former anchors Odeka O'Neil Seaton and Roger Sant. She would stay with the company and be promoted to Head of News of the Guardian Media Limited, parent company of CNC3 taking up responsibility for news and editorial content of CNC3 and the Guardian newspaper.

Personal life

On September 6, 2008, Dass wed Robert Clarke, a producer and reporter at

Gayelle TV Gayelle Television (Gayelle) is a privately owned television station, serving Trinidad and Tobago. The television station broadcasts on UHF channel 23 to the city of Port of Spain and has recently started broadcasting to Central Trinidad on UH ...

, in a million dollar beachfront ceremony at a private family owned resort in Tobago.Small, Essiba. (18 September 2008)
Dass says I do
''

'', Retrieved December 21, 2010 Clarke is the great great grandson of Captain

Arthur Andrew Cipriani Captain Arthur Andrew Cipriani (31 January 1875 – 18 April 1945) was a Trinidad and Tobago labour leader and politician. He served as mayor of Port of Spain, elected member of the Legislative Council, leader of the Trinidad Workingmen's Associa ...

, former Trinidad & Tobago politician, mayor, and trade union leader. Clarke, a journalist and writer, met Dass during a cabinet press conference in Port of Spain. The couple is divorced and share one child together. On December 12, 2020, after having a highly-publicized, adulterous affair, Dass wed Brian Manning , a Trinidadian and Tobagonian politician, in a small, intimate wedding at Stollmeyer's Castle, in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
''

Trinidad Express The ''Trinidad and Tobago Express'', better known as ''Daily Express'' (and the weekend editions ''Saturday Express'' and ''Sunday Express''), is one of three daily newspapers in Trinidad and Tobago. The ''Daily Express'' as per its masthead is p ...

'', Retrieved April 28, 2021 Manning is the son of former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, the late

Patrick Manning Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning (17 August 1946 – 2 July 2016) was a Trinidadian politician who was the fourth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago; his terms ran from 17 December 1991 to 9 November 1995 and from 24 December 2001 to 26 Ma ...

, and former education minister

Hazel Manning Hazel Anne Marie Manning is a former Trinidad and Tobago politician. She entered the Senate as a People's National Movement Senator after the 2001 general election. Senator Manning served as Minister of Education of Trinidad and Tobago and subse ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dass, Shelly Trinidad and Tobago television personalities Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Oral Roberts University alumni Alumni of the University of London Trinidad and Tobago people of Indian descent