Pregnant newscaster responds to viewers offended by her tight dress: 'Use your time better'
A female newscaster is responding to viewers who are “offended” by the sight of her pregnancy.
Kristen Nicole is an award-winning anchor at “Good Day Chicago Fox32,” where she’s worked for more than a year, rising at 1:45 a.m. each day to prep for the day ahead. She’s also a mother of one in her third trimester of pregnancy and has never received any negative feedback about her on-air appearance — until now.
On Wednesday, Nicole shared a series of Facebook photos of herself wearing the same blue sleeveless dress on camera, from August 2016 to today. “Let me save you some trouble,” she captioned the post with more than 1,000 reactions. “My email address is [email protected], but if you’re writing to tell me that you’re offended by the sight of my baby bump, don’t hold your breath waiting for a response. It’s not coming. I wear this dress probably once a month. No one has EVER had a problem with it. Wear it almost 8 months pregnant?? Whoa…disgusting, right? (insert massive eye roll).”
Then Nicole addressed three specific people: “To Karen, Gene and Sabrina who wrote to me today, use your time better. Pay someone a compliment. Do a good deed. To everyone else who has sent messages of congratulations and well wishes, you are keeping me motivated through these last 6 weeks. We’re finally in the home stretch! I have had a healthy, comfortable, stress-free pregnancy. My husband, son and I are beyond excited to meet our new addition. Thank you for being a part of our journey!”
Fans supported Nicole, writing messages such as, “Can’t believe anyone would take time out of their day to say things like that” and “You are beautiful. Ignore those who try to make someone feel bad, because they are so insecure.”
“This is a dress I’ve worn many times before, including while pregnant, and it’s the first time I’ve ever received this type of feedback,” Nicole tells Yahoo Style.
That day, the anchor received three separate emails — one from a woman who accused her of wearing a fake baby bump to “boost ratings”; one who asked, “When will you start wearing dresses fit for pregnancy”; and another who scolded, “Stop wearing tight dresses — they don’t do you any favors.”
Nicole admits that five months into her pregnancy, she felt self-conscious about her changing body, even subconsciously covering her bump with a script. However, her coworkers encouraged her to embrace her pregnancy, and she’s felt confident since, even sharing her journey with viewers. “It was disheartening to receive those letters,” she says.
Other female anchors, pregnant or not, can relate. Last week, KFVS-12 Missouri evening news co-anchor Mary-Ann Maloney posted a photo of herself wearing a modest button-down top and polled her Facebook audience as to whether it showed “too much skin,” explaining in the comments section that years earlier, she had received negative feedback on an outfit.
In July, an Augusta, Ga., reporter shared a voicemail from a critical viewer who said, “Please go to Target and buy some decent maternity clothes so you don’t walk around looking like you got a watermelon strapped under your too tight outfits” and called the 27-year-old “disgusting.”
“The sad thing is,” Nicole tells Yahoo Style, “we reported on a woman who was shot 12 times in one neighborhood, and in another, on a massive brawl that injured both police officers and citizens. My outfit is what you’re taking away from this?”
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