Michelle Beadle Update: What's The Former ESPN Host Doing Now?

Michelle Beadle was one of ESPN's top personalities for years, working on major shows like SportsNation, Get Up, and NBA Countdown. Over a year after getting bought out by the network, she has been pretty quiet about where things stand for her.

It is unlikely that we've seen the last of Beadle. She emerged on the national landscape as Colin Cowherd's co-host on SportsNation. From there, she made the jump to NBC Sports, before moving back to ESPN, where she had an even higher profile than when she left.

Beadle was born in Italy, before moving to Texas at an early age. Growing up in the town of Boerne, a suburb of San Antonio, she became a die hard San Antonio Spurs fan, which would really set the stage for her career. Her Spurs fandom was well known and often discussed during her ESPN tenures.

The 45-year old Beadle has worked for a large range of networks, covering all manner of sports. Assuming that she wants back into the sports media world at some point, she's well equipped for a number of roles. She may be content hanging back and waiting for the right opportunity, given how well she did during that last ESPN stint.

Beadle's career:

A few years after her time at UTSA, Beadle landed an internship with the San Antonio Spurs. Early in her career, she landed a hosting gig on Fox Sports Net's Big Game Hunters, and a sideline reporter role on TNN—now the Paramount Network—coverage of the Professional Bull Riders tour. After a stint on the Discovery Channel hosting the show Get Packing, Beadler reemerged in the NBA world.

She landed a job at YES Network in New York as a New Jersey Nets reporter, and host of other network programming. She wound up a number of hosting jobs in and out of sports, including Animal Planet Report, Inside Orlando’s Resorts and Outrageous Room Service on Discovery Channel, and I Want Your Job on the Fine Living Network.

In 2009, Beadle got her break with ESPN, co-hosting SportsNation with long time radio host Colin Cowherd. She also appeared on ESPN Radio in New York, and co-hosted ABC's Winners Bracket with Marcellus Wiley.

In 2012, Beadle left ESPN for NBC, anchoring coverage of that year's London Olympic Games, serving as a correspondent on Access Hollywood, and hosting the short-lived NBC Sports show The Crossover with Beadle and Briggs with former CNN and Fox News personality Dave Briggs. The show lasted less than eight months.

Michelle Beadle returned to ESPN in 2014, returning to the new version of SportsNation as a co-host. She contributed to Grantland, the boutique site launched by Bill Simmons, and would go on to host NBA Countdown and Get Up at its launch, alongside Mike Greenberg and Jalen Rose.

ESPN contract and net worth:

According to the website Celebrity Net Worth, Michelle Beadle's net worth is estimated at around $8 million. Her most lucrative years came towards the end of her tenure at ESPN.

As co-host of Get Up, Beadle was making a reported $5 million per year, alongside Greenberg and Rose, whose salaries were reported at $6.5 million and $3 million per year respectively.

ESPN unveiled its impressive South Street Seaport studio in Manhattan in conjunction with the launch of Get Up. The network spared no expense to make the morning show work, though it took a while, and truly didn't find its footing until after Beadle's departure. The terms of her contract buyout from ESPN are unclear.

In 2016, Beadle purchased an impressive home in Encino, Calif. for a reported $3.75 million. In August 2020, she listed the house for sale at $4.375 million, according to Variety. From the write-up on the 5,876 sq. foot, five bedroom, seven bathroom mansion:

From the street, the traditional home is a modern Californian take on the standard Cape Cod-style of construction, completely clad in icy white clapboard and black accent trim. But the house has not just one gable, but a whopping total of five ornamental gable roofs for the ultimate in East-Coast-meets-West-Coast design.

Unlike some homes where the traditional exterior of the property conceals some rather bizarre and/or maximalist interior design choices, the inside of Beadles’ property offers no surprises; pure white, coffered walls, recessed lighting and lightly stained wood flooring are featured throughout. To the right of the front entrance lies a formal den highlighted by a rectangular fireplace framed by a wood-paneled, floor-to-ceiling mantle. A glam, candle-style chandelier hangs from the ceiling while a neon sign appropriately declares “NAMASTE B-TCHES.” Nautical sconces bathes the room in a warm, yellow light.

Beadle's family:

Michelle Beadle's parents met in Italy, where she was born before moving to the United States. Bob Beadle, her father, was an executive for Valero Energy, while her mother Serenella is a native Italian. According to a FanHouse profile of Beadle, she and her mother learned English together, after the family moved to Texas. She has two siblings.

During her second run at ESPN, Beadle dated actor Steve Kazee, but as of late 2016, that relationship was over.

Beadle is a huge dog lover. Her 13-year old dog Leroy is a frequent star of her social media posts. In an interview with Modern Dog Magazine, she discussed the importance of rescuing dogs:

Rescuing dogs has become such an important part of me feeling like I can help even a little. I’m the person who can’t walk by an adoption without immediately getting teary eyed, and until I buy a ton of land and open up a refuge, adopting the little monkeys is my best option. I’ve learned so much about pet adoption over the years. For so long, I assumed, like many, that if you want a pure breed, you have to buy. I now spend spare time perusing the Pug rescues, always on the lookout for puppy number five. I’ve stressed to anyone who will listen, adopt! You can find the perfect addition to your family, no matter how obscure your taste, waiting at a shelter somewhere out there. Get on the Internet, and do the work.

She is a celebrity endorser of the Best Friends Animal Society.

Departure from ESPN; What happened to Michelle Beadle after Get Up, NBA Countdown?:

While it may not have been the reason that Michelle Beadle left ESPN, a major first step in that direction was made when she announced her boycott of football. Following Ohio State's decision to suspend but not fire Urban Meyer after the Zach Smith scandal, saying that she believed that the entire sport, at both the college and NFL level, doesn't care about women.

“There’s a reason why this will be the second season I don’t watch NFL and I don’t spend my Saturdays watching college football either. I believe that the sport of football has set itself up to be in a position where it shows itself in the bigger picture to not really care about women — they don’t really care about people of color, but we won’t get into that for NFL either — but as a woman I feel like a person who has been marginalized.” “And every single one of these stories that comes out, every single time, pushes me further and further away. I realize they don’t care, but for me it’s opened up my weekends. I appreciate you for giving that to me. I don’t care anymore. I’ve lost the ability to be surprised. You got three games. You could’ve been fired. They could’ve gotten away with not having to pay you a single dime. You survived it, and not only did you survive it, but you didn’t have the grace enough to at least look over the statement you were handed seven seconds before and pretend that you meant a single word in it. The entire thing is a disgrace. I’m just numb to it. I’m just ready for NBA to kick off, quite frankly. That’s what I’m here for.”

Get Up was built around covering football above all else, which made Beadle's comments a major issue. Just days after taking that stance, we reported the news that the show would reshuffle its lineup, and that Beadle was out. ESPN would confirm the news later that day. New York Postsports media reporter Andrew Marchand would go on to paint a picture of how Beadle came to be part of Get Up's formation in the first place; she never wanted the job, but former ESPN president John Skipper desperately wanted her on the show, eventually offering her the Godfather $5 million contract. As was clear to those who watched those early shows, Beadle and Mike Greenberg never really meshed and the chemistry was off. Even beyond the football comments, a divorce on that set was probably inevitable.

Former ESPN President John Skipper kept offering Beadle the job to team with Mike Greenberg, and Beadle kept saying no, according to sources. But Skipper continued to up the ante until, at $5 million a year, Beadle couldn’t say no anymore. Now, five months into the show, Beadle is done at “Get Up!” The network Friday evening announced a shuffle that gives Beadle a nice NBA landing spot and a couple of more years on her deal. The pairing of Beadle with Greenberg was one of Skipper’s final gifts during his largely regrettable tenure at the network. But anyone who knows anything about Greenberg or Beadle knew it wouldn’t work. They are too different in so many ways. They did not look like they enjoyed being on set together — and it was even less enjoyable to most viewers.

Beadle would return to Los Angeles to host NBA Countdown, but as Skipper's replacement Jimmy Pitaro looked to tighten things up, it became harder for ESPN to keep her on the books. The network bought Beadle out, while Maria Taylor and Rachel Nichols took over her duties on Countdown. Beadle has not had a major gig since her departure from ESPN. Based on her Instagram, she has spent a decent amount of time traveling in the interim, including attending some soccer matches overseas, something she admits she used to mock.

Michelle Beadle has not been as active on social media over the last few months, but has focused on promoting various social justice causes, as well as mask wearing. We're excited to see where her career takes her next.