Meet Charissa Thompson, the Fox Sports host and NFL Films star who is taking podcast world by storm
CHARISSA Thompson has gone from being an HR assistant at Fox Sports to being the high-profile host of Fox NFL Kickoff.
It marks an incredible journey for the sports broadcaster, who has been making waves of late on her Calm Down podcast alongside Erin Andrews.
After graduating from the University of California-Santa Barbara, Thompson knew she wanted to get into sports but she found it hard to get her foot in the door.
When the Seattle native saw a job advertised at Fox Sports to work in the human resources department in Los Angeles, she jumped at the chance.
After completing her standard work day, Thompson would venture to the Fox Sports production department to learn how to cut and organize game clips as well as logging video tape.
Seeking to work in sports full-time, she moved to Denver in 2007 to work as a production assistant at Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain.
Read more on Charissa Thompson
There, she was given her first on-air opportunity as a fill-in host for the channel’s Saturday evening Colorado Rockies all-access show.
A year later, she got her big breakthrough on The Best Damn Sports Show Period on Fox and filled in occasionally as a college football and NFL sideline reporter.
After stints at the Big Ten Network, Versus, Yahoo Sports and ESPN, Thompson returned to Fox Sports in 2013 where she soon rose to become the host of Fox NFL Kickoff.
“Every Sunday for me is Thanksgiving dinner," she told Sports Illustrated.
Most read in American Football
"I get to be with my family and friends. It really is a completely different vibe.
"That’s why I feel so fortunate to start my career at Fox and I hope to end my career in Fox...
"Hopefully a long time from now – but I’ll let the powers that be handle that.”
One of the most high-profile female sports broadcasters in the US, Thompson is also the host of Amazon's Thursday Night Football coverage and NFL Films Presents on FS1.
She has also worked in entertainment as one of the hosts of daily syndicated news magazine program Extra alongside Mario Lopez.
It was at ESPN where Thompson met Andrews and the pair soon became close friends.
They now host the popular Calm Down podcast and recently the pair had to vehemently deny they were flirting with NFL star Travis Kelce on the show.
A low point for Thompson came in 2018 when private nude photos of her were stolen and leaked online.
"I just lost it. I started screaming," she recalled to The Athletic.
"I just remember thinking this can’t be real.
“The pictures were obviously from a relationship I had been in.
"These were from so long ago. It was really, really tough.
"It felt – the obvious – like such an invasion."
And last year, the 41-year-old divorced sports agent Kyle Thousand after two years of marriage.
It was her second marriage, having previously been wed in her twenties, though it is unclear to whom.
“It comes down to this, and this is my advice to anyone, you have to do what’s best for you," Thompson said.
"You get one life and this thing is real short. So, I knew that I had exhausted all the options to try and keep my marriage in tact.
"And I have nothing but love and respect for my now former significant other.
"But it just reached a point where I knew that I was better off by myself.”
Earlier this year, her house was broken into with thieves stealing a number of items.
“These were professionals. They knew exactly how much time they had. They were only in there for four minutes," Thompson said.
"The thing that they took to me that was the most valuable is my sense of security."
Thompson also owns and operates the At House and Home interior design business.
Read More on The US Sun
“A dream of mine would be to go into someone’s house and not spend a dime, but to use their existing items to switch things up,” she told Architectural Digest.
“Sometimes people use finances as the reason why they can’t fix up their home, but I’m telling you, paint and good design goes a long way.”
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEZqqupl6YvK570qmmq6xfbYVygJJvbmillZrBbq%2FHmqmiq6OWerW0zqanrKeeYrOwxIysp6iqpKh6qbvSrWSpp5SYrrTAjJ6poqZdlrulvsSwqmg%3D