08/06/2026
On Super Bowl Sunday, February 9, 2025, I was at JTV preparing for a midnight show. At my 11:00 pm pre-show meeting, my scheduled host arrived clearly very ill, and it quickly became apparent that she was too sick to go on air and needed to be driven home.
With less than an hour until we went live and no host, the team scrambled to find someone who could race over to the studio. They called Kendy.
Kendy had just gotten home from a Super Bowl party, taken off her makeup and was about to get into bed. She and I had met many times, but we had never worked a show together, and she had never presented the Judith Ripka collection. If you know Judith Ripka, you know that between the terminology, the design details and the stories behind the jewelry, it is not an easy collection to simply walk into.
But Kendy didn’t hesitate. She got dressed, raced to the studio, put her makeup back on and went live with me at midnight.
That night told me so much about who Kendy was: smart, kind, professional and the ultimate team player. While we didn’t have many shows together, I was fortunate to get to know her outside the studio as well, and she was one of the most genuine people I have ever known. I feel very fortunate to have been able to call her my friend.
I happened to be in Knoxville when Kendy learned of her diagnosis, and I was grateful to attend the celebration JTV held in her honor before she retired to spend precious time with her family. Sadly, that time came to an end this past week.
I will always remember Kendy as someone who showed up when she was needed, with grace, warmth and an incredible generosity of spirit.
This photo of the two of us was taken that Super Bowl Sunday night at 11:59 p.m., one minute before we went live together for the very first time. ❤️
