Spit out a watermelon seed and wipe off the teleprompter. We have some sad news to report.
Thanks to a tip via the Facebook Algorithmic Network, we have learned that Joleen Chaney – the 6 and 10 p.m. co-anchor for KFOR Channel 4 and watermelon queen of the Oklahoma City media – is resigning from the station effective Friday, November 7th.
Unfortunately, JoJo’s not stepping away due to scandal, drama and intrigue – which, coincidentally, is also the subhead to my tell-all book about satirically working for Channel 4 from 2009–2013. She’s actually stepping away due to scary and unfortunate health reasons.
We know about all this because JoJo got on her tilt-a-whirl and – like news anchors who are leaving on their own free will tend to do – left a lengthy, reflective, 1000-word social media post about it.
In the first 700 of them, she thanked her fans, colleagues and viewers, and reminisced about how a starry-eyed, small-town girl landed in one of OKC’s most coveted anchor seats.
In the last 300 or so, she revealed the scary health diagnosis that led her to reevaluate what she wants to do with life.
This year has brought unexpected challenges. In January, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease known as LADA, a rare form of late-onset Type 1 diabetes. Earlier this year, I was a candidate to become the first adult patient in Oklahoma to undergo a newly FDA-approved treatment, but I failed the glucose test that would've qualified me. Now, I'm working to preserve what pancreas function I have left - carefully monitoring my diet, my stress, and my priorities.
And so, after months of reflection and a season of personal change, I've made the difficult decision to step away from my anchor chair. As much as I love what I do, I must prioritize my health and my family. This is one of the hardest decisions I have ever made, but I know it's the right one. With it comes the hope of renewed health, deeper presence, and perhaps - if life allows - a new chapter of long awaited growth. My last day is Friday, November 7.
Thank you for believing in me, for traveling this road with me, and for letting me live my dream. I will carry each of you with me always. These past 18 years have been a gift.
With love and gratitude,
Joleen
First of all, I'd like to say congrats to JoJo on the successful run at KFOR! I know a lot of people who worked in TV news, and they all seem to be way happier once they're out of the industry.
Second, getting old sucks. I know all the people who are older than me warned me about it, but you really don’t realize it until it hits you like a pile of watermelons.
Seriously, Joleen has been doing this for 18 years? It seems like it was just yesterday that we were creepily covering the life and times of Joleen like the Internet barstool clickhounds we were and still are today.
Now, she’s stepping away due to the diabetes, and I’m rescheduling my eye injection appointment with the ophthalmologist to find time to listen to this song alone and cry about it.
It’s very rare for a song to not only be catchy and heartfelt, but also trigger a VPO and several restraining orders. Congrats to Nate Eastham and Little Bit of JoJo for accomplishing that rare feat in one act.
Anyway, not to go full Uncle Rico here, but I wish there were a magic button I could push to go back in time to the simpler days when JoJo rolled around the state practicing earthquake safety tips with Emily Sutton...
Or, at the very least, scoring interviews with elusive creatures like Sir John Michael. Even JoJo would agree those were the good old days, right?
I know that report was filed when Joleen went through her rebellious and experimental News 9 period, but her last story at KFOR should probably be an update on Sir John Michael, and to see if he’s still living on a school bus on a marijuana farm in Norman.
Anyway, we wish JoJo the best of luck getting her health in order and enjoying the good life as a hot former news anchor. I would say I hope to see her on Discover Oklahoma in a couple of years, but Kevin Stitt canceled that, so it will have to be some other show.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
