Signature: Whitney Field Vann

AGE: 40

OCCUPATION: WBRZ 2une In, anchor

HOMETOWN: Glasgow, Ky.

It was not pretty the first time around. Frankly, it was a little scary. 2une In anchor Whitney Vann had to push off partner Leonard Augustus’ legs, put her head essentially in his crotch, kick her legs up, and roll over so he could flat spin her around his body. This was the advanced move Vann and Augustus needed to nail in order to win a local, charity version of Dancing with the Stars. And come show time, they pulled it off.

Vann only drinks half a cup of coffee before she goes on air at 5 a.m. She’ll drain two more cups immediately after the show to keep her moving for the rest of the day, but it is this atypical, generous 4-hour-a-day schedule that has kept the wife and mother-of-two happy and working in Baton Rouge broadcasting. Thing is, she wouldn’t be in broadcasting at all if a college friend had not been such a procrastinator.

Vann’s father founded one of the first generic pharmaceutical manufacturing and distributing companies in Kentucky, and growing up she thought she would follow his lead. But freshman year at Ole Miss, Vann’s friend was facing a deadline, and he asked if she would help him finish a broadcast journalism project. Working the video camera, she fumbled her way through the shoot, but when they sat down to write and edit the news segment Vann realized she had found her passion. “At that point I asked if I could help with any more projects,” she says. “It was a total fluke. I love how life works sometimes.”

This summer Vann is working with a new morning co-anchor, John Pastorek, and relishing her victory at the local Dancing with the Stars, a charity event that raised $100,000 for Baton Rouge’s Big Buddy after-school program.

As the competition approached, the normally outgoing Vann grew nervous enough to produce a mouth ulcer and a wart from the stress. And she heard plenty of rumors: Big Baby isn’t rehearsing much, Paula Pennington really has her game on (not to mention a $4,000 dress). But the weeks of salsa practice till 11 p.m.—then waking for work at 3 a.m.—paid off for the anchor who had no dance training. “Reigning champs,” she says excitedly of competing next year. “We have to come back and defend our title, right?”

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