An Emmy Award-winning American television personality, Victoria Recaño is best known as a correspondent on such programs as The Insider and Inside Edition.
Recaño was born in St. Louis, Missouri, one of six children. Her father was Filipino and Spanish having emigrated to the United States to pursue a career in medicine. Her mother was German-Hungarian. She studied dance and piano, and attended high school at Cor Jesu Academy.
At the age of 15, she auditioned for a kids' show on local station KPLR, called Team 11, that was seeking young people who could sing, dance and act, for an after-school television variety show. Recaño was chosen, and became one of four reporters on the show to produce news featurettes on subjects such as anorexia, depression, divorce and the environment. She also hosted The Disney Afternoon, for which she won two Emmy Awards.
Early Years
Victoria Recaño grew up in St. Louis, Missouri with her three sisters and two brothers. Her days at the computer began at age 10, in the fourth grade, when she first logged on to an Apple II .
High School
While attending high school at the Cor Jesu Academy, the Missouri Congressional Awards Council awarded her the bronze and silver awards for volunteer service to the community and for personal achievement and physical fitness.
Team 11 and Her Television Debut
As a high school senior, Recaño auditioned for Team 11, a group of multitalented teens who help promote kids programming for KPLR (St. Louis Channel 11). In a St. Louis Post-Dispatch story, she said she was "thrilled" when she was picked from more than 200 young people.
"They were looking for kids between the ages of 13 and 23 who gave off a wholesome image and also could sing and dance and act," she said. "I figured I'd give it a shot--I had been taking dancing lessons for years and years. When I made it, I couldn't believe it. Now it's as if the group has become my second family." She added, "After years of dance and piano, to perform with a group as talented as this is an unbelievable self-esteem builder. All those years of lessons finally are paying off."
In addition to singing and dancing, Recaño also became interested in television and journalism. She hosted The Disney Afternoon--where she won two Emmy Awards for her work--and she was one of four reporters for Team 11 who produce news 'featurettes.' Some of these topics included anorexia/bulimia, depression, divorce and the environment. 1 carries messages to school, corporate events
University
At Loyola University of Chicago, Recaño graduated magna cum laude, earning a bachelor's degree in mass communications with an emphasis in journalism, TV, film, and radio.
KPLR's 11 News at Nine
In 1996, Recaño joined KPLR's 11 News at Nine as general assignment reporter, where she mainly did entertainment and feature stories.
ZDTV and TechTV
Since the launch of ZDTV on May 11, 1998, Recaño has been drawing praise as the ZDTV News Anchor (St Louis Post-Dispatch). In USA Today, editorial director Jim Louderback said that she "is developing a cult." David Bianculli, New York Daily News, writes: "And Victoria Recaño, just to name one savvy and polished anchor, is a lot more professional than you'd expect from such a narrowcast startup operation."
During her tenure as anchor, ZDTV News won for Best Overall Video Show in the Computer Press Association's 2000 Computer Press Awards.
On May 5, 2000, Recaño stepped down as the ZDTV News anchor to assume new duties for the network as a Reporter and Special Correspondent. ZDTV was later renamed TechTV on August 21, 2000.
After an eight month stint as a reporter, on December 27, 2000, Recaño returned as the anchor of TechTV News.
Due to the dot-com bust, TechTV cut 130 positions in a move to slash costs. In November 2001, Recaño left the company.
Recaño later worked briefly as a freelance reporter for NBC 3 (KNTV) in San Francisco.
Inside Edition
In July 2002, Recaño joined Inside Edition as a New York-based correspondent. She covered events including the California wildfires and the Jason Williams trial, and has interviewed numerous celebrities such as Martha Stewart, David Copperfield and Dick Clark.
The Insider
Paramount Domestic Television named Recaño as a Los Angeles-based correspondent for the nationally syndicated newsmagazine The Insider. The program, based on the popular Entertainment Tonight segment of the same name, debut in September 2004.
Other Information
Recaño resides in Los Angeles with her husband. She enjoys volunteer work, travel, ballet, piano, jazz, and tap. She is an avid fan of The Food Network.
