News Anchors Who Are Unrecognizable Without Makeup

Barbara Walters. Connie Chung. Megyn Kelly. These are just some of the names that pop to mind when you think about famous female journalists, news anchors, and show hosts. And as anyone can see when they turn on their favorite news shows, these bright and talented women are all expected to wear make-up. It really just seems to be an industry standard. But some of these brilliant ladies have chosen to bare their faces to the world, au natural, either on screen or social media. Here are just some of those brazen news anchors who are unrecognizable without make-up.

Katie Couric is an institution in the world of American journalism. The award-winning correspondent has been seen and heard by millions of people millions time over in her long career. In addition to being a seasoned broadcast professional, she's not afraid to get real with the public about her makeup routine, which she shared on YouTube. "Can you believe how courageous I am to let you see me without makeup?" she asked in the segment. "It's scary, right?" No, Katie, it's awesome! She's also not afraid to post au natural selfies on her Instagram page.

Lori Stokes is the co-anchor of Good Day New York on the Fox 5 network. Before that, she was the co-anchor of Eyewitness News on ABC 7 for 17 years, quite a long tenure. She originally wanted to be a writer, but the mother of two changed her major to broadcast journalism, and found success in the field shortly thereafter. You might not believe it, but Stokes is in her late fifties, something her appearance completely belies. Even the makeup-free selfie she posted on her Instagram page makes you question if she's really that close to 60.

Gretchen Carlson knows a thing or two about beauty, given that she won Miss America in 1989. But the former CBS and Fox News anchor is much more than a pretty face, as she's an author and an advocate who bravely filed a sexual harassment claim against the former head of Fox News in 2016. And when it comes to putting her best face forward? She did an entire segment of her show The Real Story sans makeup. "For the first time in cable news, here I am makeup free — for a reason." And that reason? Female empowerment.

Jemele Hill is a sports journalist who worked for the ESPN network in various capacities for over a decade. Unafraid to speak her mind (which included being critical of Donald Trump and calling out racism where she sees it), she left the network in 2018, and became a staff writer at The Atlantic. Prior to that, she worked for several newspapers, including the Detroit Free Press and the Orlando Sentinel. Hill let her freckles shine in a makeup-free selfie that she posted on Instagram on her birthday, along with an extensive caption that celebrated her gratitude. 

Anyone who watches The Today Show on NBC is familiar with the smiling face of Samantha Guthrie, the co-host of the morning wake-up program. The attorney and mom has been part of The Today Show team for years, where she provides commentary and insight on the stories that her viewers care about. When she's not working hard on screen, she's not afraid to take makeup-free selfies from far-flung locations, which she posts on her Instagram page. Who knew she had so many freckles? Her brow game is always on fleek, too!

Demetria Obilor is the traffic ensemble anchor for WFAA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Dallas, Texas. She is also the anchor for the Noon Midday show on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Before that, Obilor was based in Las Vegas, where she was the traffic anchor and trending news reporter for a CBS affiliate, after working in Kansas reporting for an NBC affiliate. The journalist got all stripped down for an Instagram selfie with absolutely no makeup, captioning it solely with "f r e s h" and a tidal wave emoji. Fresh indeed! 

Speaking of The Today Show, one person who comes to mind when you mention the NBC staple is Hoda Kotb, the award-winning co-anchor of the show's forth hour. In addition, she's a correspondent for Dateline, and is a New York Times bestselling author. Kotb went bare-faced for all the world to see along with Kathie Lee Gifford back in 2014. "This is it, the real deal. No makeup, not a drop," she said in the segment. "I feel naked... I'm 45, I feel self-conscious." Who wouldn't feel totally vulnerable? That's a brave thing to do!

Josina Anderson is a reporter and a National NFL Insider for the ESPN network, the first woman to receive the title in 2015. Some of the shows she appears on include SportsCenter, Sunday NFL Countdown, and NFL Live. Before that, she was a weekend sports anchor for Fox 31 in Denver and a CBS affiliate in Coos Bay, Oregon. The Heartland Emmy award-winner posted a 100 percent au naturel selfie on her Instagram page, saying, "This was last night before 'glam' this morning." She also had several hashtags in the caption, including #unbraided #natural #hair and #nomakeup #nofilter.

Kathie Lee Gifford has been a television staple since her time on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, which ran for 15 years. The award-winning co-host of The Today Show has also been a correspondent for Good Morning America, and was inducted into the Broadcast & Cable Hall of Fame in 2015. Gifford joined her co-anchor Hoda Kotb on The Today Show, sporting only a swipe of lip gloss. "Here I am, bare and unafraid," she mused. "We came into this world bare, naked, and that's the way we're gonna go out." Amen to that.

Dana Perino is a journalistic heavyweight. She served as the White House Press Secretary under President George W. Bush — the second woman ever to hold the position — and is a co-host on The Five on Fox News. She also hosts The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino on the same network, and is a New York Times bestselling author. When she's not hard at work you can find her posting selfies with her beloved pooch on Instagram, where she's also not afraid to go "perfectly natural" on occasion. You know that took some moxie to do. 

Ann Curry has an internationally seasoned journalistic career. The former NBC News anchor and current host of We'll Meet Again on PBS has done it all, whether it's reporting on conflicts in Syria and Darfur, interviewing world leaders, or covering the tsunami in Southeast Asia. Curry joined the hosts of The Today Show in solidarity with No Makeup Monday. "This is the real me," she declared. "I'm glad to show it to you because you know, sometimes on the show, I feel like I wear enough makeup to frost a cake." What a refreshing perspective.

Erin Andrews is a veteran reporter who works for Fox Sports at the time of publishing, appearing on shows like Thursday Night Football and Americas Game of the Week, the latter being a number one show in all of television. She's also a host of the popular television show Dancing with the Stars alongside Tom Bergeron on the ABC network. Before that, she was a longtime anchor on ESPN and Turner Sports. Andrews opened up about her makeup routine with Glamour magazine, saying that she tries to keep it as natural as possible. Here she is, au naturel, on Instagram. 

Meredith Vieira has hosted some big-time shows, including The View, The Today Show, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, to name just a few. The 14-time Emmy Award-winner was on CBS News for more than a decade, and also has editor and executive producer credits to her name. That's one impressive résumé! Still, Vieira looked intimidated by the idea of appearing on The Today Show bare-faced. "Like it or not," she stated simply, then held a sign over her face that read, "Today was a total waste of make-up." Girl, been there!

Stephanie Elam is a correspondent for CNN based on the west coast in Los Angeles. She covers a wide variety of topics for the network, including natural disasters, award shows like the Academy Awards and the Emmy Awards, and breaking news. She was on the ground in Ferguson after the shooting of Michael Brown, and covered the Donald Sterling scandal as well. She celebrated her 40th birthday by posting a makeup-free selfie on her Instagram page, along with the hashtags #SMEat40; #nomakeup; #nofilter; #embracingmyage. That's how you do it, Stephanie!

Natalie Morales is the West Coast anchor for The Today Show on NBC, as well as an anchor on Access. The self-described wife and mother is also the author of a cookbook that celebrates her healthy lifestyle. She also joined her The Today Show co-hosts sans makeup for No Makeup Monday. "I'm scaring little children at home right now!" she exclaimed. But all joking aside, Morales revealed that she usually sports a natural look. "This is actually the way I am most of the time. What you see on TV is really very extraordinary." Trade secrets: revealed.

Tamron Hall is the host of Deadline: Crime with Tamron Hall on the Investigation Discovery channel. Before that, the veteran journalist and host was an anchor on Today's Take, MSNBC Live with Tamron Hall, NBC News, and more. The newscaster also received an Emmy Award nomination for her coverage of the inauguration of Barack Obama. Confident in her beauty, she was not afraid to post a video on her Instagram page, as she put it, "au natural, and PJs." And if you've noticed she's glowing, she announced her pregnancy on Instagram in 2019!

Lynn Smith is the host of Weekend Express with Lynn Smith on the HLN network. Previously, she was the host of First Look on MSNBC, and Early Today on NBC. She's also a mother two times over, according to CNN Commentary, to Ryder James and Lochlan Owens with her husband, Graham. Smith has no problem showing her face to the world sans makeup, which she did in a post on her Facebook page. She wasn't doing it for a specific reason, and barely made a big deal about it: "Oh, and I need makeup," was all she said.

Meghan McCain, daughter of the late Arizona senator John McCain, is the conservative commentator of The View on the ABC network. She has previously been a contributor to Fox News, and has also written several books, including Dirty Sexy Politics, and America, ...A Love Letter to Freedom with Michael Ian Black. Before that, she was a contributor for The Daily Beast. McCain posted a bare-faced selfie on her Instagram page, with the caption, "#nomakeup #nofilter #bedroomselfie because stripped down is as important as done up..." Amen to that!

Christi Paul anchors the weekend editions of New Day on CNN, and does reporting and anchoring for HLN on weekdays. Some of her notable coverage includes the Pulse nightclub shooting, the shooting at Newtown, and Hurricane Sandy. The mother of three has also written a book entitled Love Isn't Supposed to Hurt, which is about her journey recovering and healing from emotional abuse. You won't find her with an au natural look very often, but she did take to Instagram to show her stripped-down self to the world, with the hashtags #nofilter and #TakeMeAsIAm. 

Robin Meade has been the host of Morning Express with Robin Meade on the HLN network since 2001. Additionally, she is a New York Times bestselling author, and has released two albums as a singer-songwriter. In her tenure as a journalist, she has covered several presidential inaugurations, hosted "Ask Oprah's All Stars," and jumped out of a plane with George H.W. Bush on live television. Meade isn't afraid to snap the occasional selfie sans makeup, either, which she has posted on both her blog and on Instagram. Good morning, sunshine!

Amy Holmes is a conservative political commentator, and appears regularly on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and PBS. She is the co-host of the PBS show In Principle, and was previously the host of Way Too Early on MSNBC. In addition to television, Holmes was a speechwriter for to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist for three years. Unafraid to be vulnerable, she posted a makeup-free selfie on her Twitter page, saying, "Okay. Fine. W/o TV make up. On the train to NJ last month. What I sent to my parents." Sounds like there was a demand!

Erica Simon is the weekend morning anchor on ABC 13 out of Houston, TX. Previously she was a journalist for ABC 13 in Jacksonville, FL, where she received two Emmy Award nominations. She also covered Hurricanes Gustav and Isaac during her tenure at KOMU-TV. Simon has posted several selfies sans foundation on both Twitter and Instagram, which has attracted attention from the media because of her freckles. When asked about why she covers them, she responded that it's standard process for all anchors to wear foundation, according to the Houston Chronicle. "We all have the same 'uniform,'" she said.

Rachel Maddow is the host of The Rachel Maddow Show, which airs on the MSNBC network every weeknight at 9 p.m. The Emmy Award-winning host has a doctorate in political science from Oxford University, which she received as a Rhodes Scholar. Maddow is also a New York Times bestselling author for her book Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power, and has been honored by the Interfaith Alliance with the Walter Cronkite Faith and Freedom Award. Maddow always sports a minimal makeup look on her show, but still wasn't worried about appearing pretty bare-faced on her Instagram page. 

Michelle Beadle is the host of NBA Countdown on the ABC and ESPN networks, a role she assumed in 2016. Additionally, she's also the host of NBA After the Buzzer. Prior to that, Beadle was a host on SportsNation alongside Marcellus Wiley and LZ Granderson on the ESPN network. And if you thought she looked familiar but you're not a sports fan, she also was a red carpet interviewer for the 2016 Primetime Emmy Awards Pre-Show. Beadle was looking fresh-faced in a video on her Instagram page, wherein she was helping to raise funds for Hurricane Harvey victims.

Lindsay Czarniak is a host on NASCAR Race Hub and NASCAR Race Hub: Weekend Edition on the Fox Sports network. Previously, she worked at the ESPN network as an anchor on several shows, including NASCAR Now, SportsNation, and SportsCenter. Additionally, she was an anchor on CNN's Bleacher Report, and was a sports anchor at WRC-TV in Washington, D.C., where she hosted Lunch With Lindsay. The Emmy Award-winner posted a selfie of herself sans makeup on her Instagram page, after a mishap with one of her son's toys required some emergency hair management. 

Cari Champion is a co-anchor on SportsCenter Coast-to-Coast on the ESPN network. She's also the host of the podcast Be Honest with Cari Champion on ESPNw, where she discusses sports and popular culture with a variety of "outspoken" guests. Before that, Champion was a host on both SportsNation on ESPN and First Take on ESPN2, and an anchor on the Tennis Channel. Champion posted a glowing, bare-faced selfie on her Instagram page, noting that it was for her fellow journalists Jemele Hill and Kelly L. Carter. 

Megyn Kelly is a former corporate defense attorney turned journalist and television show host. She was the host of The Kelly File on Fox News, followed by Megyn Kelly Today on NBC. Kelly is also the author of Settle for More, a memoir about her life and experiences. Additionally, she's known for feuding with Donald Trump during the 2016 Presidential election. No stranger to controversy, she wasn't afraid to share a bare-faced selfie on her Facebook page in 2014, captioning it simply, "The natural me!" That was a pretty bold move, as she's seldom seen without makeup.