Kristine Leahy is probably best known as the sideline reporter and co-host of NBC’s American Ninja Warrior from Season 7 (2015) to Season 10 (2018).
She was also sideline reporter for special event American Ninja Warrior: USA vs. The World during Season 3 (2016) through Season 6 (2019) and co-host of 2017’s American Ninja Warrior: Celebrity Edition.
Her subsequent departure from American Ninja Warrior has left many fans wondering what happened to Kristine Leahy and where she is now.
Kristine Leahy Before American Ninja Warrior
According to Kristine Leahy’s website, the road to hosting American Ninja Warrior (ANW) started with a stint at Boston sports radio station WEEI, ultimately becoming their official reporter on the Boston Celtics. That led her to covering all sports teams in the Boston Area for FOX Boston.
Kristine moved to Los Angeles, California in 2012. After working a number of jobs at CBS, she eventually became co-anchor and reporter for the show The Herd with Colin Cowherd, which aired on KCBS-TV.
Kristine Leahy | The Herd with Colin Cowherd
In 2017, when Kristine was co-anchoring The Herd, she famously had an on-air argument with LaVar Ball after he ignored her throughout the interview, instead directing his answers to Colin Cowherd across the studio.
When she asked Ball whether his brand “Big Baller” should be marketed to women as well as men, he made the sexist remark, “Stay in your lane!”
The on-air argument escalated from there with Kristine accusing Ball of disrespecting women and Ball calling her a “hater.” He went on to make arguably threatening statements, which he later denied as threats.
Months later, on November 20, 2017, Kristine made her displeasure publicly known about CNN’s decision to invite Ball on the air.
Kristine continued on The Herd throughout most of her stint on ANW. In 2018, after 26 episodes on The Herd, Kristine announced her departure from the show to start her own sports TV show.
(Colin Cowherd’s The Herd still airs today, incidentally, with Joy Taylor as co-anchor and Doug Gottlieb and Nick Wright occasionally filling in.)
Kristine Leahy | Fair Game With Kristine Leahy
Neither Kristine nor CBS gave a reason for her departure from ANW. But shortly after Season 10 of ANW concluded, Fair Game With Kristine Leahy debuted on Fox Sports cable station FS1 on October 22, 2018. Kristine also served as writer and producer for the show.
Fair Game featured Kristine interviewing sports heroes and major celebrities, with a starting line-up of Doc Rivers, Nastia Liukin, Deontay Wilder, Ray Rice, and Josh Duhamel. Guests in subsequent episodes included the likes of Olden Polynice, Mark Cuban, Tito Ortiz, Clay Matthews Jr., and Shaquille O’Neal.
(Following Kristine’s departure from American Ninja Warrior, Zuri Hall, a correspondent for NBC’s Access Hollywood replaced her.)
Fair Game continued to run after Kristine left ANW, though it was shortly thereafter canceled, running two seasons and airing its final episode on December 27, 2019. It ran for 88 episodes.
Kristine Leahy | Other TV Appearances
In the period leading up to and following her time on ANW Kristine appeared as herself in:
- Two episodes of the American drama TV series Pitch in 2016
- Fifteen episodes of the sports debate talk show Speak for Yourself as analyst from 2017 to 2018
- One episode of Steve Harvey’s show Steve in 2018 as a panelist
- An Entertainment Tonight interview in 2018
- The 2018 Gamers’ Choice Awards
- Two episodes of daytime talk show Home & Family (2017 and 2019), including one with Henry Winkler
- An interview on Celebrity Page in 2019
Kristine Leahy | What is she doing now?
The American television host and former sports reporter appears to have taken a step back from the TV show business. Her most notable appearance is in the Netflix movie “Hustle”, where she has a cameo as herself alongside Adam Sandler.
Kristine Leahy | Social Media and Website
- Kristine’s website kristineleahy.com doesn’t appear to have been updated since her work on ANW (and results in a privacy error).
- The most recent post on her profile on Facebook is from 2020
- She hasn’t updated her Twitter feed since late September 2021.
- Her page on LinkedIn has listed her most recent position since leaving American Ninja Warrior and Fair Game as Independent TV Host and Producer since May 2018.
- She still has a somewhat active presence on Instagram, having posted pictures of her and her family as recently as four days before the writing of this story.
