Nancy O'Dell (born Nancy Evelyn Humphries; February 25, 1966) is an American television host and entertainment journalist. She served as co-anchor of the syndicated entertainment news show ''
Entertainment Tonight
''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...
'' from January 3, 2011, to August 2, 2019.
Early life
O'Dell was born in 1966
in
Sumter, South Carolina
Sumter ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sumter County, South Carolina, United States. The city makes up the Sumter, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area. Sumter County, along with Clarendon and Lee counties, form the core of Sumter–Lee ...
, and moved to
Myrtle Beach as an infant. She has one sister. After her 1984 graduation from the now-defunct Coastal Academy High School, she graduated with a ''
summa cum laude'' bachelor's degree in marketing from
Clemson University
Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...
in 1990. At Clemson, O'Dell joined
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Kappa Kappa Gamma (), also known simply as Kappa or KKG, is a collegiate Fraternities and sororities in North America, sorority founded at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, Monmouth, Illinois, United States.
It has a membership of more than ...
. She won the
Miss South Carolina pageant in 1987 and represented the state at
Miss America 1988, where she won a preliminary swimsuit award. In 1990, in the
Miss South Carolina USA pageant, she finished first runner-up to
Gina Tolleson, who became the first runner-up in
Miss USA 1990 before winning
Miss World that year.
Career
Early career
O'Dell began her broadcasting career as a reporter and anchor at
WPDE-TV in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. She later worked as morning news anchor and crime reporter at
WCBD-TV in
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...
. While there, her reports on the lenient police approach to DUI cases led to a State Law Enforcement Division investigation that resulted in authorities issuing more stringent directive for such cases. She was honored by the Associated Press with the Best Report of the Year Award (all media, South Carolina). In 1993, she joined NBC's
WTVJ
WTVJ (channel 6) is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States. It is owned and operated by the NBC television network through its NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Fort Lauderdale–licensed WSCV (channel 51), a flag ...
in Miami, co-anchoring the 5:30 p.m. news with
Jackie Nespral. O'Dell left that station in 1995 to move to Las Vegas. While there she worked as an entertainment reporter for the nationally syndicated tabloid show ''
A Current Affair'' until the show ended in 1996.
''Access Hollywood'' (1996–2009)
O'Dell joined the entertainment news program ''
Access Hollywood'' when the program debuted in 1996.
In addition to her work as ''Access Hollywood''s lead anchor, O'Dell contributed to NBC News' ''
Today'' and ''
Dateline NBC''. She covered such ceremonies as the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, and Golden Globe Awards, as well as co-hosting a number of pre-shows and arrivals for the Emmys and
Golden Globes.
O'Dell co-hosted the
Miss USA and
Miss Universe competitions in 2004 and 2005. She co-hosted the New York City
St. Patrick's Day Parade on WNBC from 2004 to 2006. She co-hosted the Miss USA 2006 pageant with
Drew Lachey, the Miss Universe 2006 pageant with
Carlos Ponce, and the Miss USA 2007 pageant with
Tim Vincent.
O'Dell appeared in minor roles in the television series ''
Charmed'' (
season 1 finale (1999) and
season 5 premiere (2002). She guest starred in ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
'' episode "
Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder" (1999), voicing herself. She also portrayed herself in ''
Scream 2'' (1997), ''
Scream 3'' (2000), and ''
Scream 4'' (2011) and served as host and consulting producer of the
USA Network
USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...
talent competition ''
Nashville Star'' for its first two seasons.
On January 13, 2008, after the
65th Annual Golden Globe Awards were canceled as a result of the
2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, she co-hosted NBC's ''65th Annual Golden Globe Awards Winners Special'' with ''Access Hollywood'' co-anchor Billy Bush.
In 2009, O'Dell hosted NBC's pre-show for the 66th Annual
Golden Globes with
Tiki Barber and
Brooke Burke. She portrayed herself in the ''
Hannah Montana
''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll, and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cy ...
'' season three episode "Cheat It". She also appeared on the
Fox sitcom ''
Brothers'', and in the same year she and
Maria Menounos guest co-hosted ''
WWE Raw'' on October 12. O'Dell was to participate in the eighth season of ''
Dancing with the Stars'', paired with professional dancer
Tony Dovolani, but had to withdraw before the season started after tearing her
meniscus during training; her replacement was
Melissa Rycroft. O'Dell underwent
arthroscopic surgery to repair it on March 20, 2009.
O'Dell's departure from ''Access Hollywood'' was announced in December 2009. She left the show with two years left on her contract.
On June 22, 2010, O'Dell hosted the ''Nashville Rising'' concert to provide flood relief for
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
residents, after
the floods in May of that year. She shared hosting duties with
Tim McGraw and
Faith Hill.
''Entertainment Tonight'' (2011–2019)
On January 3, 2011, O'Dell joined ''
Entertainment Tonight
''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...
'' as a special correspondent, and she succeeded
Mary Hart as co-anchor after Hart left the show in May 2011. An avid scrapbooker, in 2010 O'Dell partnered with Creative Memories to release her first collection of scrapbooking supplies, the Hummingbird Collection, and her second book, ''Full of Love: Mom-to-Mom Advice for Enriching Families with Simple Photo Albums and Scrapbooking''.
On August 2, 2019, O'Dell announced on-air that she would be leaving ''Entertainment Tonight'' after that day's broadcast. She also paid respects to her manager who recently died.
''Crime Exposé with Nancy O'Dell'' (2024–present)
In September 2024, O'Dell began hosting and producing the nationally-syndicated true crime series, ''Crime Exposé with Nancy O'Dell''.
Personal life
O'Dell was married to Dr. Richard O'Dell
from September 30, 1995, to November 4, 2004. In 2005, she married Keith Zubchevich. O'Dell gave birth to their daughter, Ashby Grace, in June 2007, at
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...
in Los Angeles. She said unexpected and surprising changes happened to her body during the pregnancy that prompted her to write a parenting book, ''Full of Life''. She is one of the
Muscular Dystrophy Association's National
ALS Ambassadors. In September 2016, O'Dell filed for legal separation from Zubchevich and in November 2017, they filed for divorce.
In May 2013, O'Dell received an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from
Clemson University
Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...
. At the ceremony, she spoke to the graduates, encouraging them to never give up in pursuing their dreams: "I decided that I would rather fail doing something I enjoyed than be successful doing something that would just be a grind
...my wish for all of you is that you will do the same. Be who you are because you'll always be right."
References
External links
*
Nancy O'Dellat ''Access Hollywood''
Nancy O'Dellat ''Miss South Carolina''
{{DEFAULTSORT:ODell, Nancy
1966 births
Living people
American infotainers
American television news anchors
American women television journalists
Clemson University alumni
Journalists from South Carolina
Miss America 1988 delegates
Miss America Preliminary Swimsuit winners
People from Sumter, South Carolina
People from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Beauty pageant hosts
Television anchors from South Carolina
21st-century American women