Erin Andrews wipes away tears as her dad details her 'devastating' stalker hell and secret cancer battle
The NFL sideline reporter and podcast host appeared on TODAY alongside her father Steve, and could not hold back her emotion as he opened up on her strength and resilience to overcome a series of huge traumas in her life.
In a rare display of emotion, the 47-year-old dabbed her eyes and wiped away tears while watching a pre-recorded interview with her father, before the pair shared an emotional moment together in the studio.
Steve was asked initially about the 2008 'stalking incident', in which Michael Davis Barrett was jailed for recording a nude video of Erin at a hotel in Nashville from the room next door.
A second similar incident occurred at a hotel in Columbus, Ohio, a year later, and the videos were published online in 2009. In the aftermath, Barrett was jailed for two-and-a-half years and Andrews won a $55million lawsuit against him and the hotel chain Marriott.
'Her sister called me a day or two after it happened, and she's (saying), "Is she OK? Is she safe, Dad?"', Steve explained on TODAY. 'And I said, "I don't know. I really don't know".'
Andrews was overcome with emotion watching her dad's pre-recorded segment on the show
He went on to explain that he volunteered to travel the country with her to keep her safe as she continued her work on the NFL, noting: 'You know, I'll be with you 24/7, whatever you want.'
A few years later, in 2016, Andrews was handed another huge curveball when she was diagnosed with cancer - something she kept private for a year.
'It's scary to hear your child on the phone calling you and saying, "I have cancer",' Steve told the program. 'I wanted to cry. I was brokenhearted.
'Erin is such a fighter. In broadcasting, when you get knocked down, you gotta be able to get back up. And Erin has experienced these physical, traumatic incidents.
'You would think for the average person, bam, on your back, you're done. And she just used that as motivation to say that this is not going to beat me. And honestly, I don't know that I have it in me to do what she did. She's just so strong, so amazing.'
In the years since, Steve has become a grandfather to Mack, Erin's young son who was born via a surrogate in June 2023.
The birth of her son was the result of a nine-year journey with in-vitro fertilization with husband Jarret Stoll, and she has remained at the top of her game as one of the faces of the NFL.
Once the cameras returned to the studio on Wednesday, host Bush Hager revealed 'we are all in tears', and Erin was given a chance to praise her father.
'He's amazing,' she explained. 'My mom, my sister, all amazing, as welI. I mean, it's funny, you said you don't know if you could do that.
'I feel like - and we've talked about this - when you are faced with certain things, you jut have to put on the persona [of] ok, I've got it, I'll handle it. But then you can fall apart when you're off-camera, and my family has allowed me to do that.'
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