Lauren Wendy Sánchez (born December 19, 1969) is an American media personality who gained fame as an entertainment reporter and news anchor. She has been a guest host on The View, co-host on KTTV Fox 11’s Good Day LA and anchor on the Fox 11 News at Ten, and anchor and special correspondent on Extra. Sánchez has also been a regular contributor on shows including Larry King Live, The Joy Behar Show and Showbiz Tonight.^[1]

Career[edit]

Sánchez began her career as a desk assistant at KCOP-TV in Los Angeles. She also held positions as an anchor and reporter at KTVK-TV in Phoenix before joining the syndicated entertainment show Extra as a reporter. From there, Sánchez moved to Fox Sports Net, where she earned an Emmy nomination as anchor and correspondent for the sports magazine Going Deep, served as an anchor for Fox Sports News Primetime and later as entertainment reporter for FSN‘s Best Damn Sports Show Period.

In 1999, Sánchez returned to KCOP-TV to anchor UPN News 13,^[2] where she won an Emmy Award.^[3] Sánchez also landed the entertainment reporting gig for KTTV’s 10pm news. She was the runner-up in the nationwide hosting competition during season 2 of The View in February 2000. The position was ultimately given to Lisa Ling. In 2005, Sánchez became the original host of FOX’s popular dancing competition So You Think You Can Dance. Sánchez left the show after one season to have her second child. In 2009, Sánchez returned to Extra as weekend anchor and special correspondent. Sánchez continues to occasionally work on Good Day LA, Extra and other TV shows.

Sánchez was featured in People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful” issue in 2010 and Us Weekly‘s “Hot Bodies” issue.^{[4][failed verification]}

In 2016, she founded Black Ops Aviation, the first female-owned aerial film and production company. Sánchez now focuses on film and television projects which allow her to use her skills as a licensed pilot of airplanes and helicopters.^[5]

She foresees flying to space early in 2024 with an all-female crew on board a New Shepard.^[6]

Personal life[edit]

Lauren Wendy Sánchez was born to a second-generation Mexican-American family in Albuquerque, New Mexico.^[7] Sánchez has a son, Nikko, born in 2001, from her relationship with former NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez.^[7] In August 2005, she married Patrick Whitesell, a Hollywood agent and founding partner of Endeavor talent agency.^[8] Sánchez has a son and daughter with Whitesell: Evan, born 2006, and Ella, born in 2008.^[9][10]

As early as 2018, Sánchez had an extramarital affair with businessman & Amazon founder Jeff Bezos while they were both married, leading to his divorce from his wife MacKenzie to whom he’d been married for 25 years, before they founded Amazon. This eventually led to her divorce from Whitesell.^[11]

In February 2019, Bezos published a blog post alleging that National Enquirer publisher American Media, Inc. had attempted blackmail and extortion in connection with Bezos’ alleged affair with Sánchez.^[12] In April 2019, Sánchez and Whitesell filed for divorce,^[13] which was finalized in October of that year.^[14] In 2020, Sánchez was commonly described as Bezos’ girlfriend.^[15][16][17] On May 22, 2023, Sánchez and Bezos became engaged.^[18]

Filmography[edit]

Sánchez has also made cameo appearances in films and television series, including in the following:

Film[edit]