Julie Banderas (born Julie Bidwell, September 25, 1973) is an American television news anchor for

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

. She hosted '' Fox Report Weekend'' before moving to a weekday anchor role, and currently serves as a primary weekday fill-in anchor on programs such as ''

America's Newsroom ''America's Newsroom'' is an American television hard news program on Fox News Channel currently hosted by Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino live from 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. on Monday through Friday. The show focuses on the development of the day's event ...

'', ''The Faulkner Focus'', and '' Outnumbered''. She is also a regular guest host on '' The Big Weekend Show'' and a frequent guest on '' Gutfeld!''.

Early life and education

Banderas is the daughter of Fabiola Rodriguez and Howard Dexter Bidwell (1930–2010). Her mother is an immigrant from

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

; her father was a Navy veteran and civil engineer who started a company called Consolidated Precast, Inc. Banderas has a sister and four half siblings from her father's first marriage. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...

Career

Banderas began her career at WLVI-TV in Boston. She went on to serve as a

local news In journalism, local news refers to coverage of events, by the news, in a local context that would not be of interest to another locality, or otherwise be of national or international scope. Local news, in contrast to national or international new ...

anchorwoman for WHSV-TV in Harrisonburg, Virginia; WBRE-TV in

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( , alternatively or ) is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It ...

; WFSB-TV in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

and

WNYW WNYW (channel 5) is a television station in New York City, serving as the Flagship (broadcasting), flagship of the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Secauc ...

in New York City. She joined

in March 2005 as a general-assignment reporter. In 2008, she replaced Laurie Dhue as the anchor for '' Fox Report Weekend''. In 2010, she took maternity leave with Harris Faulkner assuming her responsibilities. She returned to Fox News from leave near the end of 2010 and was reassigned to the position of general news correspondent. In June 2006, she gained international media attention for an on-air clash with Shirley Phelps-Roper, former spokeswoman for the

Westboro Baptist Church The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is an American unaffiliated Primitive Baptists, Primitive Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, that was founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps. It is widely considered a hate group and a cult, and is known for Prot ...

, about which she later stated, "These people should be arrested, and I understand the right to protest, but when you disgrace not only our fallen soldiers, but when you disgrace innocent young children, I swear. Lock 'em up. Throw away the key. Give 'em the death penalty. I think it's disgusting."

Personal life

Banderas' former husband Andrew J. Sansone, a member of the board of directors of

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a U.S. non-governmental, and tax-exempt 501(C)(3) Christian nonprofit organization which seeks to build affordable housing. The international ...

and founding president of both Old Rock Media and Big Apple Channel, proposed marriage to her with a message-in-a-bottle that he pretended to discover on the beach while clam digging on

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a sound (geography), marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York (state), New York to the south. From west to east, ...

. She announced their engagement during an episode of '' America's Election Headquarters'' on September 21, 2008. They wed at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church on August 29, 2009. They have three children and reside in New York City. In December 2022, Banderas announced on her Twitter account that she and Sansone had separated. On February 9, 2023, Banderas announced on Fox's '' Gutfeld!'' that she was getting a divorce.

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