Nischelle Turner was born on February 11, 1975, and raised by a single mother in Columbia, Missouri. She first enrolled at the University of Kentucky before transferring to the University of Missouri’s journalism school. There, she gained early experience as a reporter and camera operator at the campus station, KOMU-TV. Turner graduated in 1998 and immediately landed a reporting job at WEHT in Evansville, Indiana.

Turner moved to WVUE-TV in New Orleans in 2000, then joined KTTV in Los Angeles in 2004. There, she reported for Good Day LA before returning to cover the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She became a Fox NFL Sunday sideline reporter in 2007, covering NFL, MLB, and NBA broadcasts. Turner also hosted Extra on Essence starting in 2009 and served as an entertainment correspondent for CNN and HLN.

Turner joined Entertainment Tonight as a correspondent in 2014. She was named co-host in 2021, becoming the first Black woman to hold that role. She also hosts and executive produces CBS’s Secret Celebrity Renovation and co-hosts The Big Podcast with Shaq. Turner remains a CNN contributor and was honored with the ET team’s Daytime Emmy Awards in 2024 and 2025.