CNN Reporter Robin Meade Reveals Anxiety Attack Nearly Killed Career

(Getty Images)

Popular CNN Headline News personality Robin Meade reveals in her new autobiography that she panicked her first time in the anchor seat, and the ensuing anxiety attack nearly ended her career before it began.

Robin Meade at Chicagoland Speedway in summer 2008. (Getty Images)
"I felt sweaty. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, the set seemed to fade into a gauzy haze. My breathing was jagged. The words came, but my voice was quivering so much it sounded like a kid singing into a big box fan on a humid summer day: 'Bray-ay-ay-ay-king new-ew-ew-ews tonigh-igh-ight,'" she writes in Morning Sunshine!: How to Radiate Confidence and Feel It Too.

Meade, an extremely popular personality with Zimbio readers, was working in Chicago, Illinois, when the incident happened. She writes that in the few seconds that passed as she was reading the prompter, the thoughts that filled her head just took her further out of the game.
Oh, no, you're screwing up!
Oh, no, your bosses are probably watching!
You're going to get fired!
How will you pay your mortgage?
What will people think of you?
And then, of course, Holy crapola, where is that sound bite? These days, the Emmy Award-winning Meade hosts Morning Express With Robin Meade, and in 2004 she was voted "Sexiest Newscaster" by Playboy.com readers. For more from her upcoming book, check out CNN.

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