Brianna Keilar is an Australian-American political commentator and journalist who has been working for CNN since 2007. Previously she hosted her show on CNN called Right Now with Brianna Keilar but later joined John Berman to cohost New Day.
Last year she took leave from the show after getting COVID but resumed working from January of 2024.
Besides being an anchor for CNN, Keilar is also known for being brave and courageous. She has covered some important events and even has brutally questioned many prominent newsmakers during interviews. She even became part of a controversy when she called a guest of African-American heritage on her show and scolded him for being a Trump supporter.
Biography & Wiki Quick Summary
| Popular Name | Brianna Keilar |
| Real Name | Brianna Marie Keilar Lujan |
| Date of birth | September 21, 1980 |
| Age | 43 years old |
| Place of birth | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia |
| Hometown | Orange County, California, USA |
| Current city | Washington, District of Columbia, USA |
| Father | Glenn Keilar |
| Mother | Miriam Keilar |
| Siblings | One |
| Sister | Kelly Keilar |
| Orientation | Straight |
| Status | Married |
| Spouse | Lt. Col. Fernando Lujan |
| Ex-Spouse | Dave French |
| Children | One |
| Son | Antonio Allen Martinez Lujan |
| Occupation | Journalist and Political Commentator |
| Net worth | 8 Million USD |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | White Caucasian |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Zodiac | Virgo |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
| Weight | 60 kg |
| Measurement | 35-25-37 |
| Hair color | Blonde |
| Eye color | Blue |
| Complexion | Fair |
| Instagram id | briannakeilar |
| Brikeilarcnn | |
| Brianna Keilar |
Brianna Keilar Net Worth
Keilar is a prominent name when it comes to the world of journalism. She has also established herself as a TV anchor by hosting and co-hosting shows on CNN.
After graduating from college, she has dedicated all her life to building a career in journalism.
And all of her hard work has paid off as now millions of people recognize her, and she has a hefty fortune.
The journalist had around 8 million USD as her net worth till last year.
Her Personal Life and Family
The 43 year-old journalist was born in Canberra in Australia to her Australian father, Gleen, and her American mother, Miriam.
When Keilar was born, her father was in the Army stationed in Australia.
Her father retired from his job when she was two, and in 1982, the family decided to move to the USA.
They settled down in Orange County, where Keilar spent the rest of her childhood with her sister, Kelly.
Keilar was a popular girl growing up. She even was voted the homecoming queen during her senior year in high school. And to this day, she is famous among her viewers.
Currently, she resides in Washington with her son and her husband.
Brianna Keilar’s Husband Fernando Lujan and Previous Relationship
Keilar was previously married to Dave French for two years before parting ways.
The former couple tied the knot in May 2009 and ended their relationship with a divorce in 2011.
After the failure of her first marriage, Keilar found love for the second time in her current husband, Lt. Col. Fernando Lujan.
The couple met each other while Keilar was working as a White House correspondent and Lujan worked with the National Security Council in the White House.
The couple took four years before tying the knot and becoming husband and wife.
Initially, Lujan wanted to propose to Keilar during the retirement party of her mother, but unfortunately, Miriam passed away.
He waited for some time and then finally popped the question in July on the occasion of Independence day. Keilar shared that when Lujan proposed, there were firecrackers in the sky.
The couple then got married in December of 2016 in Las Vegas, which was shared with the world by fellow CNN TV host Brooke Baldwin during New Year’s Eve Live.
The couple welcomed their first child together in 2018, whom they named Antonio. While Keilar was pregnant with their son, Lujan had duties in Japan because of his work for the Green Berets, but he made it just in time for the delivery.
Its already been more than five years of their marriage, and still, the couple is living happily with their son. The couple also looks after Teddy, whom Lujan had from his first marriage.
When Lujan is back home from duty, the couple even trains together. Lujan helps Keilar exercise for two hours daily to make her regain her focus on fitness.
Education
Keilar earned her high school degree from Mission Biejo School.
After high school, she enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley. She completed college with a double bachelor’s degree in mass communication and psychology.
Brianna Keilar’s Career
Keilar started her career with KIMA, a CBS-affiliated virtual channel 29 in Yakima, Washington.
While in Washington, she also co-hosted the show Billy, Blue, and Brianna, too: The Morning Zoo on KFFM radio.
After working for a while in her KIMA, she got a job offer from CBS to work as a reporter, producer, and anchor in its newscast that used to get air on the college network of MTV called MTVU.
At CBS, she also worked as a fill-in anchor in Up to the Minute, an overnight news show, and as a freelance reporter for the weekend episodes of the CBS Evening News.
She worked for the CBS network for many years before joining CNN in 2007. She got recruited by CNN as its correspondent for the news section.
While covering the news for CNN, she even reported the events from the capital to around eight hundred news source stations in different locations.
As a CNN correspondent, Keilar covered many events, including the Virginia Tech Massacre, where thirty-two people got killed and seventeen injured. She was the first CNN correspondent on the scene of the crime.
With this incident, she has also covered the White House during her presidency of former Obama as a White House correspondent.
She worked as a reporter for CNN from time to time while still hosting many shows on the network.
She used to host her show Right Now with Brianna Keilar before joining New Day to co-host it with John Berman.
Keilar replaced Alison Camerota in the show and had a lot of anticipations.
However, things did not turn out well. The show struggled among its viewer after she joined the show.
The show started losing its regular audiences, and its average number of viewers decreased to only 97 k. It failed to have 500k viewers even on its seventh week after recruiting Keilar.
Despite not getting positive feedback, Keilar did not give up her position as the co-host and continued hosting the show.
She took a break from the show when she tested positive for COVID in December of last year, but she has returned to work since January 3rd and is still trying her best to lift the show.
Besides her journalism and working for CNN, Keilar also has her blog Home Front. Through her blog, she shares the struggles of families of militaries and tries to make them relatable to other regular American families.
Brianna’s Controversy with Shannon
The McKinley Dickson Award receiving journalist has always got praised for her outspoken and brave personality. But even she has gone through her share of controversies.
The controversy took place in October 2021 when New Day welcomed Shannon, an African-American guest, on the show.
Keilar has always been an anti-Trump, so on hearing that Shannon supported Trump, she scolded him and even told him how Trump never disagreed with the White Supremacy.
The whole event came as a form of disrespect to Shannon, who shared to Fox News that he felt belittled in the show and would never go back to the show.
