As anyone who follows celebrity news knows, public figures aren’t immune
to adultery and that includes news anchors. From the absolutely wild
to the unbelievable – here's the deets on the anchors who cheat.
Many extramarital affairs are complicated, but few contain nearly as many details as
the affair between Alycia Lane and Larry Mendte. The former Philadelphia news anchors were engaged
in an affair that reportedly began sexually in nature and eventually became criminal.
"So, here’s the thing about infidelity."
In the mid-aughts, Lane and Mendte were employed by the same CBS affiliate. Per the Daily Mail,
their relationship reportedly became more than just professional, though the details
given by either party were too dissimilar to make sense of what actually happened.
Mendte claimed Lane came onto him. Lane, on the other hand, claimed the opposite and even
denied the affair entirely. Despite disagreeing on the specific details of their alleged affair,
both parties confirmed the aftermath: Mendte hacked Lane's email and sent messages that
damaged her career. Mendte lost his job and spent six months on house arrest due to his actions.
Lane sued her former employer and Mendte over the hacking ordeal.
A decade after the alleged affair occurred, the lawsuit was settled.
In a statement as reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Mendte stated:
"I repeatedly and illegally invaded [Lane's] personal email accounts,
obtained personal information and fed stories to the press to make it appear as if she was
carrying on inappropriate relationships with men, which was untrue and unfair."
In 2020, T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach joined forces on "GMA 3," but two years later,
their tenure as co-hosts came to an abrupt end. In late 2022, the Daily
Mail reported that the news anchors, who are both married to other people,
had struck up an affair while preparing for a marathon in March of that year.
The outlet shared paparazzi photos of the two canoodling at bars, riding in cars together,
and taking trips to furtive locations. Though Holmes and Robach maintained their
hosting duties initially upon the news break, they were soon pulled from the
"GMA" desk. Per CNN, ABC President Kim Godwin said in an email to employees:
"While that relationship is not a violation of company policy, I have really taken the last few
days to think about and work through what I think is best for the ABC News organization. And so,
for now, I am going to take Amy and TJ off the air, while we figure this out."
Not long after Holmes' and Robach's departures, Page Six reported that
Holmes had been unfaithful to his wife with more than just his co-host. Sources
alleged that Holmes pursued relationships with several women working at ABC. One of them noted:
"T.J.'s cheating with ABC staffers was definitely one of the reasons why they
were yanked off. It has become a distraction."
In 2005, Fox 5 anchor Holly Morris divorced her husband,
CNN weatherman Tom Sater. But the public had to wait 10 years to learn the details
of their split. Morris appeared on the "I Still Have a Keycard" podcast and told host
Sarah Fraser all but the name of the woman she caught her ex-husband cheating with.
"I came to Fox 5 and I was married to one person,
and then that person I was married to left married to another person that worked here."
She went on to share that her then-husband was struggling with addiction and apparently
struck up a relationship with one of her coworkers, whom many believe to be Gurvir
Dhindsa. Per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dhindsa and Sater later married each other.
Morris also detailed the discomfort she felt at work while anchoring the news
with the woman her husband was sleeping with, saying:
"It would be one of those things where we'd do the noon show, and then the two of us walked
down [to] the newsroom — [and] everyone's talking, and then all of a sudden they stop."
Although Morris was mortified by the actions of her ex-husband and former co-anchor, she did say:
"It's the best damn thing that ever happened to me."
Some people get caught cheating while others reveal their affairs
on their own. The latter was the case for Lauren Sanchez,
the former news anchor of multiple shows who gained further notoriety by leaving
her ex-husband Patrick Whitesell for one of the world's richest men, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Sanchez and Bezos first crossed paths when they became neighbors on Mercer Island, Washington.
The couple connected over shared interests, and their relationship flourished from there.
Sanchez and Bezos told their respective partners about their affair, and soon after, thanks to
the National Enquirer, text messages between the two were revealed. One from Bezos read:
"I love you, alive girl. I will show you with my body, and my lips and my eyes, very soon."
Both Sanchez and Bezos divorced their spouses, though the latter proved to be
far more expensive than the former. Per The Abrams Law Firm, Bezos's ex-wife,
Mackenzie Scott, was given a stake in Amazon, her awarded shares worth over $38 billion
at the time. As of December 2022, Bezos and Sanchez are still dating. As Sanchez told CNN:
"We're really great teammates, and we also have a lot of fun together. And we
love each other ... We always look at each other and we're the team."
"Partners in crime? Give me five!"
Jesse Watters has his career to thank for both his wives. Jesse met his ex-wife,
Noelle Watters, at Fox News. They married in 2009, and their divorce was finalized in 2019.
Per the Daily Mail, two years prior to their divorce's finalization, Noelle learned that
Jesse had been having an affair with another woman he met at Fox News, Emma DiGiovine.
DiGiovine had worked as an associate producer on Jesse's show, "Watters World," and after
news of the affair broke, she was transferred to work on "The Ingraham Angle," but not much
else concerning their relationship was revealed. Not long after his divorce,
Jesse announced he and DiGiovine were set to be wed on Twitter, saying:
"Emma and I would like to announce our engagement! Thanks to all of our
family and friends who've shown us so much love. We are so grateful."
Soon after, the couple married in Naples, Florida. In 2021, DiGiovine gave birth to
their first child together, Jesse's third, a son named Jesse Bailey Watters. In 2022,
Jesse shared on "The Five" that his wife is expecting another child, a girl due in 2023.
We've got yet another messy one. Per CBS News, the saga of news anchor Maria Athens and former
Anchorage, Alaska, mayor Ethan Berkowitz began when the two started texting each other in
2016. Four years later, Berkowitz resigned from his position and said in a statement:
"I apologize to the people of Anchorage for a major lapse in judgment I made several years
ago when I had a consensual, inappropriate messaging relationship with reporter Maria
Athens. I'm embarrassed and ashamed for the hurt I've caused my family and our community."
Prior to his resignation, Athens accused Berkowitz of sexual misconduct with minors,
per Anchorage Daily News. A portion of Athens's expose came by way of a photo of
a nude man she posted to Facebook, claiming it was evidence of the mayor's wrongdoing.
She also uploaded a video promoting her impending expose, and reportedly left
Berkowitz an aggressive voicemail warning him of her plan prior to making any public moves.
That same day, Athens was arrested for entering the studio despite a ban, as well as assaulting a
police officer. No further information was shared about Berkowitz's and Athens's affair, but it's
all for the best, as we're still trying to wrap our heads around the information we do have.
The United States' history with Cuba is long and complicated, and as noted in Politico Magazine,
and the late journalist Lisa Howard’s relationship with Fidel Castro only adds to the complication.
Howard's career began in Hollywood, but she turned from her life of acting to focus
on journalism. She soon became employed by ABC, and she hosted her own program,
"Lisa Howard and News with the Woman's Touch." In 1963, Howard was given the opportunity to
travel to Cuba to interview then-leader Fidel Castro. Prior to the interview,
Castro and Howard met at a nightclub, and a spark lit between them immediately.
Castro agreed to his first television interview in years, conducted by Howard.
"The people in the United States. Understand my English?"
"I think they will."
Thanks to frequent visits to Cuba,
Howard's political relationship with Castro continued, as did her personal relationship,
all while she was married to another man. In a conversation with Castro, Howard once said:
"You are right, Fidel. Our intellectual relationship
is the essential one. Though the other one is rather pleasant too."
The dissolution of Howard and Castro's dalliance isn't well-documented,
but it appeared to be due to her losing her position of influence
on the United States government regarding Cuba. Not long after, Howard lost her job,
miscarried a pregnancy, and became depressed. Howard died on July 4, 1965 from an overdose.
In 2016, Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell shared that he and his wife of over 30 years
were divorcing. Though he didn't share many details, this came just after reporter Jessica
Moran left her position at Comcast SportsNet New England. As she explained to the Boston Globe:
"I have stepped away from Comcast SportsNet as
I thought it was in my best personal and professional interest to do so."
Many suspected Farrell's divorce was brought on by an affair between him and Moran,
though neither party confirmed those suspicions. Farrell is not the first
Red Sox employee to be accused of having an affair with someone from the media.
In 2008, per the Boston Herald, Hazel Mae, a former anchor of "SportsDesk,"
reportedly married former Red Sox manager Terry Francona. And per the Boston Globe,
reporter Jenny Dell and third baseman Will Middlebrooks began dating in secret in 2013.
The two later confirmed their relationship and got married in 2016. What's more,
former catcher Jason Varitek and former infielder Nick Green both allegedly
were involved with former New England Sports Network reporter Heidi Watney,
per ThinkProgress, though neither relationship was ever confirmed.