Texas news anchor overwhelmed with emotion as she announces co-anchor’s passing

Co-anchor Lindsay Liepman of KCEN became understandably emotional as she announced the sudden and unexpected passing of her co-worker.

Kris Radcliffe died unexpectedly at the age of 51, leaving family, friends, and co-workers in mourning. On Wednesday, October 30, Liepman paid an emotional tribute to Radcliffe’s life and work.

Watch:

(Video Credit: KCENNews)

“Kris sat in the chair right beside me and he was the best. He was simply the best,” she said. “Funny, genuine and smart. I looked forward to working with Kris every single night and I think you all could tell at home. We had fun here. Kris loved this community and never took his role for granted.”

“If I had known yesterday was going to be our last newscast together, I would have ignored the cues to wrap from our producers and just laughed a little longer,” she continued, visibly upset.

“I would have thanked him for all that he’s taught me, and given to all of you, the viewers. But that’s not how life works out. What you don’t get to see on air is all of the time spent talking about our families, and our group chats. He loved talking about sports and politics, it was important for me to share what he meant to us at KCEN right now because I know he would have done the same for me.”

Liepman shared that she could not get through the night’s broadcast, and asked for understanding as others stepped in to help her out.

She later shared with Today.com that sharing the news of Radcliffe’s passing was “the hardest day of my career and I’ve had to do a lot of hard things. I didn’t want our viewers to hear the news from anyone else. He would have done the same for me.”

She noted that her late co-anchor “was so easy to love. I’ve worked with a lot of co-anchors and he was truly a top market anchor in a small town. He chose to live in Waco for his family and from the minute I met him we clicked. We had each other’s backs on and off air. I could really be myself around him and I know he felt the same.”

“There’s a special bond between people in this business. Our newsroom is left with a vast hole. And that shows you how big of an impact he made. More than anything I will remember all the times he made me laugh even on my worst days. And that’s the thing. As a news anchor, you can’t let your bad days show. He was our rock and I leaned on him.”

Sierra Marlee

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