Nancy O'Dell on Joining Entertainment Tonight and OWN

When Nancy O'Dell left Access Hollywood at the end of 2009, she thought she would get a bit of a break. Turns out, she was wrong. "Ryan [Seacrest] had too many jobs, and some of the rest of us had to take over some of them," jokes the future co-host of Entertainment Tonight; she joins the show as a special correspondent in January and will take over as co-host when Mary Hart leaves at the end of the season. But in all seriousness, between hosting duties, a second book (Full of Love) and endorsement deals, "I feel like I've not had a bit of time off yet," she says. "I've been so busy planning the next thing."  
The next big thing is finally set in stone, but before O'Dell goes to work at ET, she'll finish up filming the first season of Your OWN show: Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star, which she hosts on the soon-to-launch OWN network. "Oprah [Winfrey] hosted a few of the episodes with us, and that was the first time that I'd been nervous in a long time," admits O'Dell. "She's perfect, and I was mesmerized just watching her. She would talk and I would start listening to her, and all of a sudden, I see my name roll up on the teleprompter, and I'm like, 'Oh, I'm supposed to be saying something here!' I was so involved in what Oprah was saying I got a little distracted."
O'Dell says being chosen by Oprah to host a show felt like validation that she has been doing her job right, but nothing serves as more affirmation than the gig as Mary Hart's replacement on Entertainment Tonight. "It's such an honor to be the one that's chosen to come in when a TV legend has decided that it's her last season," says O'Dell. "It's the king of the entertainment shows. I grew up watching Entertainment Tonight. I can so clearly remember thinking it was just the coolest show ever, back when they did it in evening gowns. Who knew all these years later that I would actually be hosting it?"
O'Dell says she can't wait to watch Hart at work. "This is Mary's year," she says. "This year is for celebrating all of her success and the 30 years she was on ET. I look forward to being there and helping her celebrate."
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