In just a few months, Lauren Sanchez will exchange vows with Amazon magnate Jeff Bezos. Before she steps into her role as Mrs. Bezos, Sanchez made her mark as a journalist, leading popular shows such as Fox 11’s Good Day LA and Extra TV.
Throughout her illustrious career, Sanchez has conducted countless interviews. Her dedication has earned her an Emmy, though not without a few on-air mishaps along the way, including a notable one with former President Bill Clinton.
After being turned down for a flight attendant position at Southwest Airlines, Sanchez, who lives with dyslexia, chose to continue her education by enrolling at El Camino College in Torrance, California.
It was there that she rediscovered her love for journalism after a teacher encouraged her to get tested for a learning disability and she finally realized that she was suffering from dyslexia.
‘[The teacher said], “You’re not dumb. You’re just dyslexic. Let me give you tools on how to write,”‘ she explained, adding that the professor gifted her a pocket dictionary to keep with her at all times.
‘It changed my life. I went from barely a 2.0 student to the dean’s list and got a scholarship to USC.’
Lauren, now 55, transferred to University of Southern California in 1992, which she attended for two years while working as a desk assistant at the LA-based news company KCOP-TV.
In 1994, she left to school to pursue her career as a reporter full time after she was offered a job at KTVK in Phoenix, Arizona.
Sánchez continued her journalism career for many years, well-known for her role as co-host on KTTV Fox 11’s Good Day LA and job as anchor on the Fox 11 News at Ten.
In 2009, she became a weekend and special correspondent for Extra TV. She was also the host on So You Think You Can Dance during its first season in 2005.
With all these years of experience under her belt, the bride-to-be has a large portfolio, and FEMAIL has gathered a list of some of Sánchez’s cringiest reporting bloopers.
Sanchez once made a very embarrassing blunder when interviewing a dancer and her fiancé
During her one-season wonder gig as a host for So You Think You Can Dance, Sánchez made a mortifying mistake while interviewing a dancer, as she mistook the woman’s fiancé for her father.
The awkward moment was posted to TikTok by user @chloyorkcity, as she took her viewers on a walk down memory lane.
Sánchez was interviewing a contestant, who was standing next to her fiancé, something that the journalist didn’t seem to be aware of.
While the contestant was talking to Sánchez, she pulled her man in close and gave him a cuddle.
‘How great is it to have your dad here?’ Sánchez then asked.
‘My boyfriend,’ the dancer interrupted.
‘Your fiancé, how great,’ Sánchez continued, as she appeared to patch up the interview.
In the TikTok, the creator also included Variety’s 2005 review of Sánchez’s hosting skills, which they labeled ‘superfluous at best.’
The outlet wrote that she didn’t add much to the production besides ’embarrassing moments, such as when she mistakes a dancer’s fiancé for her father.’
President Bill Clinton furiously shut Sanchez down after a scathing exchange
During her time as a correspondent for Extra, Sánchez had the opportunity to interview former President Bill Clinton in March 2010.
The interview came just a month after Clinton was hospitalized in February 2010 for a stent surgery. Previously, in 2004, he had quadruple bypass surgery.
However, his post-operation interview with Sánchez did not go as well as she may have planned for.
Halfway through the exclusive chat, they started talking about the procedure, with Clinton sharing that it went smoothly and he didn’t need to go under anesthesia for the operation.
‘How did that change you, though?’ Sánchez asked him.
‘I mean, this is another surgery basically that you had to go through, and the first time you changed your diet and your exercise, so, did it kind of say, okay, I need to change a few more things?’ she continued to press.
However, former President Clinton shut Sánchez down.
‘They didn’t really, what they said was that I had been working too hard and sleeping too little and exercising too little, and I needed to do six days a week, not three, on the exercise and I needed to sleep a little more,’ Clinton replied.
‘So we know that’s not gonna happen,’ the newscaster joked.
‘No, we do, we do, actually, so I’m exercising more, I’m sleeping a little more every night, and I’m trying to be even more rigorous about the diet,’ he said sternly.
Sanchez brazenly interrupted her co-anchor during a July KTTV Fox 11’s Good Day LA broadcast
During a July 2011 episode of Fox 11’s Good Day LA, Sánchez had a bit of a slip-up as she completely cut off her co-anchor.
The moment happened as they were talking to TMZ’s Dax Holt about a radio show host who was saying ‘nasty things’ to women at the time.
And, while Sánchez’s co-anchor tried to join the conversation, she completely cut her off.
‘It’s just out of context…’ her co-anchor began to say, as the journalist interrupted and talked over her.
‘Ooh, I’m looking forward to watching TMZ, I can’t wait,’ she cut in.
Sanchez laughed at an inappropriate joke made by co-anchor Jeff Michael
While on-air during a January 2012 episode of Fox 11’s Good Day LA, the future Mrs. Bezos did not hold back as she laughed at an inappropriate joke made by her co-anchor, Jeff Michael.
Michael made the joke as they were speaking to talk show host Bill Caroll about the hit reality show, Toddlers & Tiaras, which chronicled families who put their young children in pageants.
Specifically, Sánchez and Michael appeared to be talking about Alana Thompson and her family, as her mom gave her an energy drink called ‘Go-Go juice’ to give her a boost during the pageants.
‘I think it’s ridiculous, I mean, any of those energy drinks for anyone, even teenagers,’ Sánchez said.
‘But does it surprise either of you that these mothers are doing this? They’re already painting their daughters up like hookers, for crying out loud!’ Michael said.
In response, Sánchez let out a hearty laugh in disbelief, as she tried to cover her mouth.
‘It’s true, though,’ she scathingly agreed.
