Erin Andrews Thought Her Career Was Over After Nude Video Scandal and Shares Family's Pain in Emotional Podcast: 'I Was Screaming'

Sportscaster Erin Andrews is opening up about one of the most painful chapters of her life.

Andrews, 48, revisited the 2010 n--- video scandal during the Wednesday, September 2, episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast and discussed the lasting impact it had on her career and family.

“Back in the day … I had this disgusting person following me around cities,” Andrews shared. “It was very well-publicized where College Game Day was going to be, where Thursday Night Football was going to be, and I didn’t have an alias [at my hotels]. I didn’t think I was a big deal.”

She continued, “Who cares about what name I’m checking under? And that’s, as you know, the sad realities of what we do for a living.”

Andrews later learned about the disturbing footage through a friendly blogger who had heard that a “n---- video of [her]” was circulating online.

Her reaction was immediate, as she reached out to her parents.

“I called my mom and dad right away. I was screaming, crying because it was me and it was me n---- in a hotel room walking around. I just [had an] out-of-body experience, started screaming,” she recalled to podcast host Alex Cooper. “My dad said when I called, he thought I was in a car accident ‘cause I was screaming so hard. We talked about how much I love the job, how I liked being the ‘girl next door.’ And I just said to my dad, ‘It’s over. My career’s over. Like, no one’s going to take me seriously ever again.’”

Before the incident, Andrews had built a career as a familiar face on the sidelines. She was especially proud that viewers saw her as someone they could “have a beer” with, which made the situation even more difficult for her.

“I just thought, ‘This is so dirty. No one’s going to ever want to work with me again, talk to me again. This is gross. This changes who I am,’” she added. “It was a lot that I put my family through with all of it. It was a lot legally, [and] it was wild.”

Although years have passed since the scandal, Andrews admitted that the experience never completely disappeared from her life.

“[I just felt] gross, like, wishing in my own hotel room I had worn a towel,” she said. “Like, you’re getting ready for a game. What are you talking about? [Also, I felt] shame. I remember walking around stadiums … thinking everybody in the stadium has seen me n----, and I didn’t have a choice.’”

The emotional toll was clearly heavy, but Andrews found a way to keep moving forward by returning to the place where she felt most comfortable.

Rather than step away from her career, Andrews threw herself back into work. She said the football field gave her a sense of normalcy during a period when so much of her personal life felt out of control.

“My safe place, and I am so proud of this, was the football field, which is wild because you’re sitting there and you’re reporting to 20 million people, and how is that your safe place?” she said. “But it’s been for a lot of stuff. I mean, the week I was diagnosed with cervical cancer and then had to have a pretty evasive surgery, they said, ‘Don’t go on the field and stand on the field ‘cause you’re not really capable physically.’ I was like, ‘This is my safe space. So, that’s how I dealt. I threw myself right back into work.'"

The incident began when a stalker secretly filmed Andrews undressing in her room at the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University in 2008. According to reports, the man had asked hotel employees to place him in the room next to Andrews after an employee confirmed that she would be staying there on a specific date.

He then tampered with the peephole so he could record Andrews without her knowledge while she was changing. The footage was eventually released online in 2009.