Erin Andrews

One of the most popular sports reporters, particularly among men, Erin Andrews made a rapid climb from regional sports coverage to become one of ESPN's top sideline analysts. Born on May 4, 1978 in Lewiston, ME, Andrews was raised in Tampa, FL by her father, Steve, an Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist for WFLA-TV, and her mother, Paula. After graduating Bloomingdale High School, she earned her bachelor's degree in telecommunications from the University of Florida, where she was a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority and the Gator basketball dance team.

She began her sportscasting career as a freelance reporter for Fox Sports Net Florida, where she worked from 2000-01. The following year, Andrews was a Tampa Bay Lightning reporter for the Sunshine Network in 2001-02. Joining Turner Sports in 2002, she covered the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Thrashers as a studio host, and the Atlanta Hawks as a reporter while also covering college football for TBS.

In 2004, Andrews joined ESPN as a reporter for the network's National Hockey League coverage, which was soon followed by reporting stints for college football, Big Ten college basketball and Major League Baseball in 2005. She also filed reports for ESPN's coverage of the Great Outdoor Games, which included numerous individual events such as fly fishing, archery and log rolling. Meanwhile, Andrews was voted "America's Sexiest Sportscaster" by Playboy magazine in 2007 and 2008.

During coverage of a New York Mets game for the network in July 2009, Andrews was hit in the chin by a foul ball off the bat of infielder Alex Cora. Though rushed to the hospital, she suffered only minor bruises. But the foul ball was nothing compared to the pain she suffered just a few weeks later, when word spread across the Internet that she was filmed nude in her hotel room through a peephole camera.

After confirming that it was indeed herself and that she was filmed without her knowledge or consent, Andrews dispatched lawyers to remove all copies from various sites while looking to prosecute the perpetrators of the invasion of privacy. Eventually, the FBI arrested a Chicago-area stalker who was caught trying to sell other videos to the tabloid site TMZ. Andrews later appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (syndicated, 1986- ), where she gave her one-and-only interview on the subject, telling Oprah that she feared losing her job over the incident while she had suffered anxiety since the incident while on the road.

Fortunately for Andrews, the incident failed to make a dent in her stature at ESPN, while she earned the respect and encouragement of other women who had suffered similar indignities, but were powerless to fight it. Following her return to covering football later that fall, Andrews was listed as one of the season 10 contestants for "Dancing with the Stars" (ABC, 2005- ), joining the likes of astronaut Buzz Aldrin, actress Shannen Doherty and Olympic gold medalist Evan Lysacek.