Ashleigh Banfield

Background

Ashleigh Banfield was born in 1967 in Manitoba, Canada. She is known as a news anchor and currently works at CNN, based in New York. Ashleigh's parents are Elizabeth and John; her mother is from Holland and her father is Canadian. On October 24, 2008, Ashleigh became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Early Life and Education

Ashleigh attended Balmoral Hall School, a university preparatory school in Manitoba, and finished in 1985. She then graduated from Queen's University with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and French. She decided to continue her education and later studied Advanced French at the University of British Columbia, graduating in 1992.

A Distinct Journalist

Ashleigh is an Emmy Award-winning news anchor who has covered countless breaking news stories across the nation and internationally. Her distinct journalistic style makes her the perfect fit for any news station. Before joining CNN, she was a correspondent at ABC News, contributing to Good Morning America, Nightline, and 20/20.

Banfield is renowned for her bold statements that are both contentious and laudatory since she began her career in the national media. Off-screen, she is a laid-back individual who prefers to spend her free time heli-skiing and sleeping. She is recognized for her iconic rectangular eyeglasses, a signature that has garnered attention since she joined the national media scene as a news anchor.

Ashleigh had refractive lens exchange surgery while she was on vacation. It was the first time in two decades that she could function without wearing her signature glasses. The surgery essentially replaces the natural lens of the human eye with an artificial lens, making it possible to see without needing reading glasses.

Overcoming NBC

Ashleigh was once at the bottom of the totem pole in her industry. She didn't have her own office, a phone, or a computer. For ten months, she had to go to work every day and ask where she could sit and if she could use someone else's desk if they didn't show up that day. After those ten months, she was finally given an office, but it was a tape closet. She didn't mind, though, because at least it was progress for her. They cleared the tapes out of the closet for her and put a desk, TV, a computer, and a phone in the small room.

She felt there was a lack of appreciation, but they wouldn't let her leave. She remembers begging to be released from her contract for seventeen months, but the NBC News president wouldn't allow it. She asked why they would keep her if she had no use for them. She felt that they kept her under contract so that she couldn't go to another station and make them a success with her skills. She stated that she would never forgive them for what they did, for keeping her in limbo until they decided to let her go.