Heidi Watney is a familiar face, a television personality widely known for being one of the most popular sports reporters in the United States of America. Born into a family with a rich background on the sports scene, it was no surprise that Heidi chose to follow in the same profession as many of her family members. Since her early debut in 2002, Heidi Watney has created a big name for herself, and has even appeared in a couple of video games. Here is all that you could possibly know about Heidi Watney.
Early Life and Family
Heidi Diane Watney was born in Fresno, California USA, on 19 May 1981, to parents Mike and Paula Watney.
Her father was a golf player and coach, and continues to coach at Fresno State Athletics and California State University. Her cousin Nick Watney is also a professional golfer, and her family has been a great inspiration behind her career choice. Heidi had four siblings, a brother Josh and two sisters, one is Kelly Winter – her younger brother Dusty suffered from Prader-Willi syndrome, and sadly passed away in April of 2017. Josh Watney had followed his father’s footsteps and played golf in college. Heidi was also active in sports throughout her high school career, participating in diving, gymnastics and hurdles on the track. She was also part of the cheerleading squad.
Educational Background
Heidi attended Clovis West High School in Fresno, and was then granted a National Merit Scholar academic scholarship and was accepted into the University of San Diego. While attending varsity, Heidi participated in the Miss California USA pageant, and walked away with the runner-up position in 2002 when she made her first mark in the media. In 2003 she graduated with honours with a BA degree of Broadcast Journalism. Despite being recognized for her beauty, this blonde Fresno girl appears to be an intellectual too.
Following her studies, Heidi Watney returned home to Fresno where she kicked-off her early career.
Career
Her career in sports broadcasting started at a Fresno local radio station she was a broadcasting anchor for the sports programs of KFIG-1430, and over the weekends worked as a presenter for KMPH-TV. She stayed in Fresno until 2008, when she moved to Boston to accept a position on the Red Sox Report.
While in Boston she worked as an on-field reporter, and also appeared on “The Ultimate Red Sox Show” as a presenter.
She worked for the Boston-based network NESN until November 2011, when she changed locations once more to start as a side-reporter for the new network in Los-Angeles, the Times Warner Cable SportsNet.
Later in that same year when she joined TWCSN, Heidi left the network to start her position as a sportscaster for the MLB network. As of 2013, Heidi became the hostess of the “Weeknight Baseball Highlights Show Quick Pitch”.
Interestingly enough, Heidi also appeared in a music video for Dropkick Murphys entitled ‘Going Out In Style’, and featured in the video games ‘ MLB The Show 19’ and ‘ MLB The Show 20’ as the sideline reporter.
She continues to work for the MLB network to this day.
Hobbies, Favourite Things and Interesting Facts
Not much is known about Heidi’s personal preferences, other than that she enjoys playing golf, and loves spending valuable time with family in the outdoors. She shared recent photos of an outing to Yosemite Park with members of her family on Facebook. She is also fond of animals and had bought her son a dog.
Relationships
Heidi has been popular in the media due to some controversies in regards to her past relationships. She has since married and is enjoying the bliss of motherhood.
The earliest reports on her past relationships are about her short-term relationship with a professional baseball player and pitcher, Jacob Edward Peavy. It is said that they were dating for a few months, but the relationship was short-lived.
In 2008, Heidi made controversial headlines when rumours were spread about her romantic engagement with Jason Varitek – it was rumoured that they were seeing each other while Jason was still a married man.
Jason filed for divorce from his wife, to whom he had been married to for ten years, but his relationship with Heidi is said to have lasted close to a year before they separated.
After this, Heidi met Mike Wickham, who became her long-time boyfriend. On New Year’s Eve of 2013/2014, the couple held their wedding ceremony, exchanging vows at Edgewater in New Jersey, and spending their honeymoon at Bora Bora. On the 28th of April 2018, Heidi gave birth to her only child as of yet, Jaxson Wickham. The little fellow will soon be celebrating his second birthday.
Physical Characteristics
- Date of Birth: 19 May 1981
- Star Sign: Taurus
- Hair Color: Blonde
- Eye Colour: Blue
- Height: 5ft 8ins (1.73m)
- Nationality: American
- Race: Caucasian
Net Worth
From her long-running career in sports broadcasting, it is estimated that Heidi has accumulated a net worth of about $3 million as of early 2020. Her annual salary at the MLB network is said to round up at $250,000.