Here's the scoop on where OLN dredged up Kirsten Gum, the "Denise Austin" lookalike who's causing so many of you fits during the Tour.
From N E W S B L U E Z E T T E - Tuesday, June 5, 2001:
A daily newsletter, produced by www.newsblues.com, for TV professionals.
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COPS POP GUM
Luscious Kirsten Gum, who was voted "Sexiest Woman in Charlotte" before moving from the prime anchor slot at Charlotte Fox start-up WCCB to co-host the nightly "Totally NASCAR" on Fox Sports, was busted for DUI the night before the Coca Cola 600.
Local TV outlets knew of the arrest, but none reported it.
Admitted one news manager, "We knew, frankly, the same thing could happen to any one of our people. We decided to pass."
Gum had a brief but brilliant run on WCCB. She was the original co-anchor of the station's first newscast, and readers of Charlotte's "Creative Loafing" voted her "Best Female News Anchor." Yet, less than 7 months after joining WCCB, she suddenly disappeared from the airwaves amidst a flurry of rumors.
Gum resurfaced when Fox Sports announced its new nightly NASCAR show, which originates from the WCCB studios in Charlotte.
We're told, by the way, Gum reported for duty at the Coca Cola 600...on time...despite her trouble with the law.
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