Lauren Sánchez

Lauren Sánchez has been married to Jeff Bezos since June 27, 2025. She was previously married to Patrick Whitesell from 2005 to 2019, and they have a son, Evan, and a daughter, Eleanor Patricia.

Her first son, Nikko, was born in 2001 from her relationship with former NFL player Tony Gonzalez. Sánchez has described her relationship with Gonzalez and his wife as close, calling them her “best friends.”

Sánchez began her broadcasting career as a desk assistant at KCOP-TV in Los Angeles. She later worked as an anchor and reporter at KTVK-TV in Phoenix before joining the entertainment news program Extra.

She went on to work for Fox Sports Net, where she was an anchor and correspondent on Going Deep, an anchor on Fox Sports News Primetime, and an entertainment reporter on Best Damn Sports Show Period. After returning to KCOP-TV, she anchored UPN News 13, and her team won an Emmy Award. She also co-hosted KTTV Fox 11’s Good Day LA and anchored Fox 11 News at Ten.

Sánchez was the runner-up in the nationwide hosting competition for the second season of The View in 2000. In 2005, she became the original host of So You Think You Can Dance, leaving after one season. She later returned to Extra as a weekend anchor and special correspondent and continued to make occasional appearances on Good Day LA and other television programs.

Sánchez has acted in films and television programs, often playing news anchors, reporters, or other media figures. Her credited film appearances include Hollywood Homicide, The Day After Tomorrow, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, We Bought a Zoo, White House Down, Ted 2, and Girlfriend’s Day.

Her television credits include Babylon 5, The Agency, Eve, Dirt, Gotham Tonight, NCIS, Days of Our Lives, and Rake. She also served as an executive producer on the short film El Silencio de Afrodita and worked as a safety pilot and aerial producer on Miss Bala.

Sánchez learned to fly at age 40 and became a licensed helicopter pilot. In 2016, she founded Black Ops Aviation, described as the first female-owned aerial film and production company. The company’s work has included consulting on Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk.

In 2024, Sánchez received the Elling Halvorson Vertical Flight Hall of Fame Award for her work as a helicopter pilot and aviation businesswoman. On April 14, 2025, she flew as a passenger on Blue Origin’s NS-31 suborbital mission, an all-female flight to the edge of space.

Sánchez helped assemble the NS-31 mission and personally selected fellow passengers including Gayle King, Katy Perry, Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen, and Kerianne Flynn. She also worked with the fashion house Monse on flight suits for the mission. Sánchez and King became the first female journalists to fly to space.

In 2024, Sánchez published The Fly Who Flew to Space, a children’s book released in English and Spanish. Its central character, Flynn, struggles in school, becomes curious about life, and accidentally travels into space inside a rocket. The book was inspired in part by Sánchez’s experience with dyslexia and became a New York Times bestseller.

Sánchez is vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, where she works on climate change, nature protection, early childhood education, and housing support. She has promoted the fund’s Greening America’s Cities initiative and works with the Day 1 Families Fund, which supports housing and free preschool education for families in need.

She also participates in the Bezos Courage and Civility Award and has worked with This Is About Humanity, an organization supporting separated and reunified families at the United States-Mexico border. Conservation International honored her with its Global Visionary Award.