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Kristen Welker named new co-anchor of Weekend TODAY

NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker is joining the team as co-anchor of Weekend TODAY.
Kristen Welker
Welcome to Weekend TODAY, Kristen Welker!Nathan Congleton / TODAY
/ Source: TODAY

Weekend TODAY crew is welcoming its newest member!

NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker is joining the team as co-anchor of Weekend TODAY. The news comes on the heels of co-anchor Sheinelle Jones' announcement that she will be stepping away from the show to spend more time with her family. Sheinelle co-anchored Weekend TODAY for five years and will remain as a co-host on the 3rd hour of TODAY.

Who is Kristen Welker?

Kristen is an experienced journalist who was one of the four female journalists to moderate the fifth Democratic presidential primary debate in Georgia in November 2019. She also covered the 2016 campaign trail and previously worked as an NBC News correspondent in Burbank, California.

Kristen has been an occasional fill-in anchor on Weekend TODAY in the past and is excited to jump into the hot seat full-time alongside fellow NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander.

For Welker, becoming a co-anchor is a full-circle moment. She was an intern for TODAY in 1997, a researcher on Weekend TODAY and is a former weekend anchor at WCAU, NBC's local Philadelphia affiliate. The Harvard graduate is a native of Philadelphia and a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

In addition to her work at NBC, Kristen was also a reporter and weekend anchor at WLNE-TV in Providence, Rhode Island and an anchor and reporter at KRCR-TV in Redding, California. She currently lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband John Hughes.