Las Vegas Weekly

December 30, 2008 · 8 AM

Morning Call: Newest Vegas magazine cover girl Nancy O’Dell loves Las Vegas

By Robin Leach

Radiant Access Hollywood host Nancy O’Dell has stepped out from the TV cameras to become the newest cover girl for our Vegas magazine -- and she’ll be broadcasting from here during the giant Consumer Electronics Show in two weeks. In the new January issue of our sister publication, the anchorwoman of one of NBC’s most successful entertainment news programs dishes on becoming a new mom, how she juggles her showbiz duties and her love of Sin City!

In her exclusive interview with Humberto Guida, she said: “I love Vegas. I go to Vegas a lot for work. We do a lot of interviews with celebrities on the Strip, or if they’re performing, we cover that. I make sure my husband comes with me so we can do it up, go to a nice dinner, hit a show. That’s where some of the perks of Access Hollywood come in because we can buy tickets at the last minute to most of the shows. We turn it into a great date night.

“I went to Vegas several times with my parents. In those days, there were just a couple of places to go on the Strip. Now the hotels just go forever. The skyline has exploded. It’s amazing. I guess that’s why all the celebrities love to come to Vegas. Maybe we should move the set of Access Hollywood there. I’ll bring that up at the next meeting.”

Nancy explained that family comes first over showbiz assignments.

“My family is my No. 1 priority. I say that to every boss here, and that’s the way it should be for everybody.” The anchorwoman hid her pregnancy on air for three months until she broke the news during an interview with Will Smith! It prompted her to write a book about pregnancy, which has become a bestseller.

“Things that happened to me were not covered in the pregnancy books, so I was taken by surprise. So I decided to write a book for other women -- and, believe it or not, a lot of the information is very helpful to men, too.”

In the cover story and photo layout, Nancy also reveals the “golden touch” for getting celebrities to open up for her exclusives.

“We don’t take ourselves too seriously, and I think celebrities enjoy that. We don’t act like these people are going to change the world or doing brain surgery. It’s not just about feeding their egos. Celebrities come to me for exclusives because they know that although I won’t shy away from the tough questions, they’re going to be presented in a fair way. It’s not going to be twisted or distorted.”

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