Nischelle Turner Makes History As First Black Woman To Host ‘Entertainment Tonight’

Black girl TV magic!

Nischelle Turner is making history as the first Black woman to host Entertainment Tonight in the show’s 40-year history, The New York Times reports.

Turner always knew she wanted to be a broadcast journalist ever since she was a little girl growing up on a farm in Columbia, Missouri. The first Black woman she saw on air was also a Missouri-Columbia student, and her name was April Eaton.

“I was floored. I didn’t know someone who looked like me could do this,” Turner told reporters.  

Turner would dabble in several things as she got older, growing a love for baseball and her favorite player Jose Oquendo, but she always returned to journalism. She graduated from the University of Missouri in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and broadcast news before starting her career as a reporter and fill-in anchor at ABC affiliate WEHT. She built up her muscle there, eventually moving to New Orleans in 2000 to become a weekday reporter and weekend anchor before joining Fox’s KTTV in Los Angeles as a reporter on “Good Day LA” and an anchor on “Good Day LA Weekend.”

She earned numerous awards for her coverage of Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath and became a sideline reporter for “Fox NFL Sunday” in 2007, covering baseball and basketball. As her career grew, so did the number of Black faces Turner noticed in the industry. 

“You look at local news stations now and see all races and ages. It’s a slow burn, but I really do see things changing,” she said. 

Since 2014, Turner has worked as a weekend anchor and correspondent for “Entertainment Tonight,” winning four Daytime Emmy Awards in the process and reporting from London, Tokyo, Berlin, and New Zealand while regularly contributing to CNN. Now, the veteran journalist is being promoted, becoming the first Black woman to host the nightly “Entertainment Tonight” broadcast alongside Kevin Frazier, making the duo the first all-Black hosts for the show in its 40-year-history. 

“It’s so special to be a trailblazer in this arena. I hope young girls see me and think they can do this, too,” said Turner.

In addition to her new role as host of “Entertainment Tonight,” Turner will also be hosting “Secret Celebrity Renovation,” a show that allows celebrities to surprise people they know with a home renovation.  

Congratulations on all of your accomplishments, Nischelle! Because of you, we can!

Photo Courtesy of Kevin Frazier/Entertainment Tonight