Heather Star Childers is an American television news anchor. She was a former anchor of the first hour of '' Fox & Friends First'' for

Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ...

, and worked for the organization from 2010 until 2020. She currently co-anchors ''American Agenda'' on

Newsmax TV Newsmax TV is an American conservative television channel owned by Newsmax. The network primarily focuses on opinion-based talk shows. It carries a news/talk format throughout the day and night, with documentaries and films on weekends. During ...

Early life and education

Childers was born in

Hartsville, South Carolina Hartsville is the largest city in Darlington County, South Carolina, United States. It was chartered on December 11, 1891. The population was 7,764 at the 2010 census. Hartsville was chosen as an All-America City in 1996 and again in 2016. Har ...

, and grew up in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most popu ...

.Théoden Janes
You'd have to wake up pretty early to compete with Fox News' Heather Childers
''Charlotte Observer'' (October 10, 2017). She graduated from

Myers Park High School Myers Park High School is a public high school in Charlotte, North Carolina. It serves grades 9–12, and is a part of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools district. History Myers Park High School opened in 1951. The school has a 62-acre campu ...

in 1987. Childers attended the

University of North Carolina at Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs through nine coll ...

, then graduated from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...

with an undergraduate degree in English.

Television news career

Childers began her professional career at

WCNC-TV WCNC-TV (channel 36) is a television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, affiliated with NBC. The station is owned by Tegna Inc. WCNC-TV's studios are located in the Wood Ridge Center office complex off Billy Graham Parkway ...

in Charlotte as a producer and reporter in the early 1990s. She worked for television news stations in

Albany, Georgia Albany ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia. Located on the Flint River, it is the seat of Dougherty County, and is the sole incorporated city in that county. Located in southwest Georgia, it is the principal city of the Albany, Georgia m ...

and then

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

, at

WLOS WLOS (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Asheville, North Carolina, United States, broadcasting ABC and MyNetworkTV programming to Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which prov ...

, the ABC affiliate there. She moved to News 14 Carolina in 2002 as an anchor. Childers came to Fox News Channel in November 2010 as a reporter, and became an anchor for ''

America's News Headquarters ''America's News Headquarters'' (seen on air as ''America's News HQ'') was a weekend afternoon news program broadcast on Fox News Channel; it also refers to the headline recaps showing at the top and bottom of the non-''hard news'' hours. The show ...

'' in August 2011. She later became an early-morning host at Fox; beginning in 2017, she was the host of the first installment of '' Fox & Friends First'', from 4-5 a.m. In April 2012, Childers posted a

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

message linking to an article from a fringe website promoting "birther" conspiracy theories; the article suggested that the Barack Obama campaign had threatened the life of

Chelsea Clinton Chelsea Victoria Clinton (born February 27, 1980) is an American writer and global health advocate. She is the only child of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clin ...

if the Clintons spoke of "Obama's birth certificate or lack thereof." In response to criticism of the tweet, Childers said that she was "asking for opinion." Like other Fox News hosts, Childers has questioned the

scientific consensus on climate change There is a strong scientific consensus that the Earth is warming and that this warming is mainly caused by human activities. This consensus is supported by various studies of scientists' opinions and by position statements of scientific org ...

, suggesting on air in 2016 that "the science is still in question." In March 2020, Fox News took Childers off the air after she came to work and appeared on air while ill during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The network confirmed the termination of her contract in July 2020, after several months where she would not appear on the network again. Childers had tested negative for COVID-19, and tweeted at the network several times to ask to return to her position. In November 2020, she announced on

she was co-anchoring ''American Agenda'' alongside

Bob Sellers Bob Sellers is a Newsmax TV anchor, an executive at public relations firm MediaStars Worldwide, and the author of the book ''Forbes Best Business Mistakes''. Sellers is a former CNBC and Fox News anchor. Network Television Sellers was an ...

on Newsmax TV.

Awards

* Miss North Carolina Preliminary Winner

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Childers, Heather 1969 births Living people People from Charlotte, North Carolina University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni American television reporters and correspondents American television news anchors Fox News people Newsmax TV people University of North Carolina at Charlotte alumni Conservatism in the United States