What Is Chris Hansen Doing Now? ’To Catch a Predator’ Host’s Life Today

Warning: The following post contains discussions of suicide.

The MTV Documentary Films documentary Predators is now streaming on Paramount+, and former To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen is heavily feature in the back half of the exposé. Predators breaks down the rise and fall of To Catch a Predator, which aired as a Dateline NBC segment from 2004 to 2007.

Hansen began working in local news during his senior year of college at Michigan State University. He became a correspondent for NBC News beginning in May 1993, which eventually led to his work for Dateline NBC. NBC ended its contract with Hansen after 20 years in August 2013.

So, what has Hansen been up to since then and what is he doing now? Scroll down for updates.

What is Chris Hansen doing now?

Today, Hansen runs the true crime streaming service TruBlu, which he launched in 2020. He also hosts his show Takedown With Chris Hansen on the streamer. The series shows Hansen continuing to investigate and interview online predators, similar to his work on Dateline NBC. Additionally, the journalist hosts a podcast called Predators I’ve Caught.

In August 2025, Hansen confirmed that he was working on a documentary about the gaming platform Roblox and predators who use it to communicate with young children.

Prior to creating TruBlu, Hansen hosted Investigation Discovery’s Killer Instinct in 2015. The 10-episode series featured him exploring homicide cases. He began working for Crime Watch Daily in 2016 and stayed with the program until it ended in June 2018.

During his second season on Crime Watch Daily, Hansen also debuted a revival of To Catch a Predator called Hansen vs. Predator.

He started his YouTube channel, Have a Seat With Chris Hansen, in 2019.

Who is Chris Hansen’s wife?

Hansen married Gabrielle Gagnon, his second wife, in November 2021. They got engaged the previous December, shortly after his divorce from his first wife was finalized.

Hansen and Gagnon met at a restaurant in Michigan while they were enjoying separate dinners with friends, according to The Sun.

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He was previously married to Mary Joan Hansen from 1989 until she filed for divorce in 2018. The split was finalized in 2020. In her divorce filing, Mary Joan said the marriage was “broken down irretrievably.” Radar Online reported in 2011 that Hansen had a four-month affair with NBC anchor Kristyn Caddell and that he and Mary Joan were living separate lives in the years before her divorce filing, per Us Weekly.

Does Chris Hansen have kids?

Yes, Hansen has two sons with his first wife. He is also a stepfather to Gagnon’s adult children, a daughter named Lauren and a son named Paul.

Why was To Catch a Predator canceled?

In a 2015 interview with Time magazine, Hansen insisted that To Catch a Predator only ended because the show had run its course. “At the end of the day, we had proved our point,” he said.

However, there has been much speculation that a tragic incident during filming an episode of the show is what really led to the show’s cancellation. In November 2006, Bill Conradt, a district attorney from Dallas-Fort Worth, died by suicide when NBC cameras and police came to his house amid a sting operation for To Catch a Predator.

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Why Was 'To Catch a Predator' Canceled?

Conradt had been communicating with a decoy posing as a 13-year-old boy, but did not show up when they arranged a meeting in-person. In an unprecedented move, Hansen and his crew decided to approach Conradt at his own home. When they arrived, he had a gun in his hand and promised, “I’m not going to hurt you,” before fatally shooting himself.

The lawyer’s death unleashed a larger conversation about the show and whether it was an ethical way to expose online predators. Many people felt that the show was more concerned with ratings and making news, rather than actually achieving justice.

“They went over there and did that at that house because it would do something for the show, not something for society, not something in the interest of law enforcement,” a former detective who participated in the Conradt sting, said in Predators.

Conradt’s sister sued NBC News for wrongful death in a $109 million lawsuit, but settled out of court.

Predators, Streaming Now, Paramount+

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or dial 988. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.