Nancy O'Dell Named Special Contributor for PEOPLE (the TV Show!) : 'I Am Thrilled'
Monica Hervey Nancy O'Dell
Nancy O'Dell is joining the PEOPLE family!
The five-time Emmy Award-winning journalist has been named special contributor for PEOPLE's new daily TV program, PEOPLE (the TV Show!).
O'Dell will be responsible for the show's prestige interviews during a special segment, the Nancy O'Dell Interview, which will be reserved for exclusive A-list celebrity interviews on the series.
The journalist, 54, co-hosted Access Hollywood for 13 years and was the lead anchor of Entertainment Tonight for nine years.
“In her many years of covering entertainment news, and in the many years Nancy and I have worked together, I have witnessed how she has established trust and an incredible rapport with many A-list celebrities,” executive producer and showrunner Rob Silverstein said in a statement. "Nancy brings credibility, honesty, and authenticity – all primary characteristics she shares with the beloved PEOPLE brand.”
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O'Dell expressed her utmost excitement to join the PEOPLE team and continue her work in the entertainment industry.
"After taking a personal break, I am excited to have found the perfect brand, colleagues, and opportunity with PEOPLE (the TV Show!) — it just doesn’t get any bigger or more reputable than PEOPLE. I am thrilled to be reuniting with Rob [Silverstein] and his experienced team, who I have known since working by their side during my 13 years at Access Hollywood,” she said in a statement.
Monica Hervey Nancy O'Dell
"Although the show is based out of New York, I am excited to be able to continue my exclusive interviews with talent for the show from the west coast or wherever the interviews will take me," she continued. "Now I can spend more time with my daughter, have time to work with the charities we love, and continue to develop other projects I have in production, while still sitting down with some of the entertainers I have come to know and love from interviewing them over the past 25 years. I hope this new show will bring some light during this difficult year."
O'Dell's first exclusive sit-down interview will be with country superstar Garth Brooks during the debut episode of PEOPLE (the TV Show!).
The interview, which will air over two days on Sept. 14 and 15, took place in Nashville, where O'Dell joined Brooks and wife Trisha Yearwood in his personal recording studio — which marked the first time a journalist was allowed access to the private area.
Steve Harding From left: Trisha Yearwood, Nancy O'Dell and Garth Brooks
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O'Dell spoke with Brooks and Yearwood as they recorded their rendition of "Shallow" from A Star Is Born and candidly discussed Brooks' decision to take himself out of the running for entertainer of the year at the Country Music Awards in November.
The new half-hour tv show will air daily and is inspired by PEOPLE's unique combination of the most popular celebrity and inspiration human-interest stories as well as entertainment news, exclusive interviews, and feature stories. The show will also tackle beauty, style, true crime and more.
The upcoming series will be hosted by Kay Adams and Lawrence K. Jackson, with Jeremy Parsons and Sandra Vergara as New York and Los Angeles correspondents, respectively.
The show will air in all 12 Meredith markets, including Atlanta, Phoenix, St. Louis, Portland, Nashville, Kansas City, Hartford-New Haven, Greenville-Spartanburg, Las Vegas, Mobile-Pensacola, Flint-Saginaw, and Springfield-Holyoke. It will also be available on PEOPLE.com or on the PeopleTV app.
PEOPLE (the TV Show!) premieres on Monday, Sept. 14., at 7 p.m. ET.
