What happened to Chris Hansen (To Catch a Predator)? Arrested

• Chris Hansen is an American TV journalist, actor, and YouTuber best known for hosting the former segment “To Catch a Predator” of the weekly reality TV legal show “Dateline NBC”, which aired between 2004 and 2007.
• He graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Telecommunication in 1981, and began working as a reporter for the NBC-affiliated TV station WILX.
• His YouTube channel has close to 400,000 subscribers and over 20 million views of all his videos combined, and he has won six News & Documentary Emmy Awards.
• He has been married to Mary Joan since 1989, and the couple have two sons together.
• He is 62 years old, has short gray and brown hair and brown eyes, his height is 6ft 3ins (1.9m) and he weighs around 180lbs (80kgs). His net worth is estimated to be over $1.5 million.

Known for movies

Crime Watch Daily (2016-2017)
as Himself - Host

To Catch a Predator (2004)
as Himself - Host (2004)

Dateline NBC (1997-2014)
as Himself - Correspondent / Himself / Correspondent

NBC News Special: Terror in Boston (2013)
as Himself - Correspondent

Who is Chris Hansen?

Christopher Edward ‘Chris’ Hansen was born in Chicago, Illinois USA, on 13 September 1959 – his zodiac sign is Virgo, and he holds American nationality. He’s a TV journalist, actor and YouTuber, who’s probably known best for having hosted the former segment “To Catch a Predator” of the weekly reality TV legal show “Dateline NBC”. It aired between 2004 and 2007, also starred Stone Phillips and Del Harvey, and following people who are impersonating girls aged between 12 and 15 on the internet, to try and catch pedophiles in the USA; the show received mostly positive reviews.

Early life and education

Chris was raised in West Bloomfield Township and Birmingham, Michigan by his mother Patricia Hansen, and his father whose identity remains undisclosed; because Chris hasn’t spoken of having any siblings, most of his fans believe him to be an only child.

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He was around 14 years old when he became interested in journalism, after having watched the FBI investigation following the disappearance of the American labor union leader James Riddle Hoffa. Chris studied at Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Hills, and was interested in various activities during his four years there: he acted with the school’s drama club, practiced creative writing and contributed to the school’s newspaper.

Upon matriculating in 1977, he enrolled at Michigan State University, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in telecommunication in 1981.

Career as a journalist

Chris launched his career straight out of college, as he started working as a reporter for the NBC-affiliated TV station WILX based in Lansing, Michigan.

He then moved to Tampa, Florida to work at the NBC-affiliated TV station WFLA, and subsequently worked for various Michigan radio stations and newspapers; he eventually moved to Detroit and joined the TV station WXYZ.

Chris gained some recognition in 1988, when he was hired by the TV station WDIV, becoming their investigative reporter and anchor, until in May 1993 when he was hired by NBC News, serving as a correspondent for their show “Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric”.

Chris spent the following 20 years working for NBC News, and during this time covered numerous stories for the show “Dateline NBC”, such as the Unabomber, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the Columbine High School massacre. He also covered the September 11 attacks and the hijacking of the Air France Flight 8968. NBC didn’t renew Chris’ contract when it expired in August 2013.

He hosted the Discovery channel show “Killer Instinct” in 2015, and on 22 August 2016 began hosting the syndicated news show “Crime Watch Daily”, then the following month he also began hosting the reality show “Hansen vs. Predator”.

He’s today mostly focused on running his YouTube channel, and hosting his podcast “Have a Seat with Chris Hansen”.

Acting credits

Chris has appeared in an episode of five TV series. He made his debut appearance in the 1995 episode “In the Name of God” of the critically acclaimed family fantasy drama “Touched by an Angel”, created by John Masius, and which starred Roma Downey, Della Reese and John Dye. It follows three angels who have come to Earth to help those suffering from depression, aired from 1994 to 2003, and won 28 of the 88 awards for which it was nominated, including 12 Primetime Emmy nominations.

Chris then appeared in the 2006 episode “The Break-up” of the comedy “30 Rock”, voiced himself in the 2010 episode “Loan-a Lisa” of the animated comedy “The Simpsons”, and appeared in the 2016 episode “Who’s Afraid of the Big Black Man” of the comedy “Black-ish”.

His only other role has been in the 2020 episode “The Big Ride” of the action crime drama “The Boys”, created by Eric Kripke, and which stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid and Antony Starr. It has been airing since 2019, follows a group of people who have turned against corrupt superheroes, and the series has won eight of the 67 awards for which it has been nominated, including six Primetime Emmy nominations.

YouTube channel

Chris launched his YouTube channel on 9 October 2019, and it’s today subscribed to by close to 400,000 people, while it numbers over 20 million views of all his videos combined, most of which are the episodes of his podcast “Have a Seat With Chris Hansen”. We’re going to mention three of the most popular videos on Chris’ YouTube channel, which have helped him attract many subscribers.

His #1 video “Have A Seat With Chris Hansen ft. Shiloh Discussing Onision” has been watched more than two million times, and features Chris and Shiloh talking about the YouTuber Onision, who has been accused of being a pedophile.

Chris’ second most popular video “Chris Hansen On Location Onision Wrap Up” has been watched close to 1.5 million times since 15 January 2020, and shows Chris after he had knocked on Onision’s door, and after Onision had called the police on Chris.

Third on his list of most watched videos is “Have A Seat With Chris Hansen Michigan Predator Episode Two – Predator Prison Guard”, watched more than a million times, and features Chris talking about catching predators on the internet.

Awards and nominations

Chris has been nominated for 16 News & Documentary Emmy Awards, winning six; some of these wins include a 2000 Emmy for Outstanding Instant Coverage of a News Story – Programs, a 2001 Emmy for Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story – Segments and a 2003 Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism in a News Magazine, all for his performance in “Dateline NBC”.

Chris was also nominated for a 2017 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Series, for “Crime Watch Daily”, shared with colleagues.

Arrest

In January 2019, Chris was arrested after having purchased promotional items worth $13,000 with a bad check, but the charges were soon dropped.

He was charged with harassing a civilian on 28 February 2020, and had a court date on 24 March 2020; the case was eventually settled out of court.

Chris turned himself in in July 2021, after having failed to appear in court earlier that month; he explained that he didn’t appear in court because of a misunderstanding.

Love life and wife

Chris has been married for more than three decades. He exchanged vows with the American non-celebrity Mary Joan in 1989, in a private ceremony attended by many of their friends and family members.

Mary Joan gave birth to their two sons in the following couple of years, but both she and Chris have been keeping their children away from the media’s attention, wanting them to be able to lead normal lives.

In June 2018, Mary Joan filed for divorce citing ‘irreconcilable differences’ and asking for half of Chris’ assets, however, it’s widely believed that the reason was because Chris had previously cheated on her with NBC anchor Kristyn Caddell. However, it appears that the two have since reconciled, as she has often been appearing in Chris’ YouTube videos since 2020.

As of March 2022, Chris seems to still be married to Mary Jane, and they have two sons together.

Hobbies and other interests

Chris seems to be enjoying the attention which he’s receiving from his more than 50,000 followers on Instagram, and is thus quite active on the network, having uploaded more than 600 pictures onto his account.

The majority of these have been taken during his everyday life, and many feature him spending time with his family.

Chris loves to travel, and has been all around the world for both work and pleasure; his dream travel destination seems to be Rome, Italy.

Chris is a philanthropist, and has donated money to a couple of charity organizations which aim to help war veterans and their families.

He likes to watch movies in his spare time, and his favorite actor and actress are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Angelina Jolie, while a couple of his favorite films include “The Terminator”, “Total Recall” and “Kindergarten Cop”.

Age, height and net worth

Chris’ age is 62. He has short gray and brown hair and brown eyes, his height is 6ft 3ins (1.9m) and he weighs around 180lbs (80kgs).

As of March 2022, his net worth has been estimated at more than $1.5 million.