Host comings and goings on CW33's Eye Opener
11/19/13 11:24 AM
By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
CW33’s syndicated early morning Eye Opener recently has lost a co-host and gained one.
Out is Sean Dowling, who left in mid-October. In is Alex Wehrley, a former 2009 Miss Wisconsin USA.
Dowling, in an Oct. 18th post on his Facebook page, said he had “enjoyed over 2 years of laughs, good times and genuine fun waking up with you all, and I’m leaving on a high note . . . My life has taken me in another direction. This hasn’t been a job, it’s been a blast!” He’s offering no further details for now.
Wehrley, a University of Wisconsin-Madison grad, earlier worked as a morning anchor in Rockford, Ill. at WREX-TV before joining Oklahoma City’s KSBI-TV in 2012 as the host of Oklahoma Live!. Her Eye Opener bio describes Wehrley as a “down to earth Midwestern girl” whose beauty pageant days are behind her. “Don’t let the makeup and high heels fool you,” prospective viewers are assured. “You’ll frequently find Alex barefoot on a yoga mat or boating at her family lake house.”
(Full disclosure: Your friendly content provider likewise is a UW-Madison alum and “down to earth” Wisconsinite who once reigned as his hometown Racine’s Mr. Junior Achievement without wearing makeup or high heels. Honest.)
Eye Opener airs from 5 to 8 a.m. weekdays and is produced out of CW33’s Dallas studios. The comedy-infused news program also is shown on Tribune-owned TV stations in Houston, Philadelphia, Miami and several other markets. Holdover hosts Oliver Tull and Nerissa Knight remain with the program.