Tessa Barrera is leaving her co-host position for KPRC 2’s 1pm afternoon lifestyle show, Houston Life, after three years.
The announcement was made at the beginning of Wednesday's edition of Houston Life with Barrera, essentially saying she will be more available to her family and will determine her next chapter.
Here is a portion of what Barrera said on-air:
"So I want to reset and, you know, my life and the way I came to Houston. You know, my family has kind of just rallied around me, and they've always been there to support me and worked around my schedule.
It was the priority, which is like kind of nice, but I feel like at this point, I feel like it's my time to be a better community member. Do you know what I mean? Because you want you want community. But at some point you have to be a good community member. And I think right now is a really good time for me to reevaluate. Stop. Help out my family when they need it and just be, you know, maybe more of like a free agent.
And that means hopefully that I'll get to see you. I'll, I can pop in and out of here every time. You know, you need someone or need something. I'd like to still be involved in the show in some capacity. I mean, not immediately. I do want some time off."
Co-host Derrick Shore says Barrera still has more time on the show. A source tells mikemcguff.com that Barrera's last day will be March 31, 2026.
I had a chance to be a guest on Houston Life after Barrera was hired for Runaway Radio. She seems just as nice off camera, and she and Shore appeared to have great chemistry even off camera. I'll add that the show is very well run and produced, and it has a nice vibe for its daily guests.
Also, I recently heard that Barrera has a podcast, so keep an eye out for it.
- Owen Conflenti after KPRC 2 Houston
Barrera, a Corpus Christi native, joined Houston Life in July 2023 alongside Shore after several months of guest co-hosting following Courtney Zavala’s departure.
She originally came to Houston in 2019 after being selected through a nationwide search to join 94.5 The Buzz KTBZ’s “The Rod Ryan Show.”
For more than a year, Barrera worked on both radio and TV, but in December 2024, she left The Buzz morning show to concentrate full-time on Houston Life.
Before arriving in H-Town, Barrera worked in Los Angeles as a news anchor and executive producer at KFI AM 640.
Before transitioning to radio, Barrera built her career in television news in Corpus Christi at KRIS 6 and KZTV Action 10 News, where she made history as the first Latina sports anchor in South Texas. She covered a wide range of teams, including the Corpus Christi Hooks, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders, Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas, and area high school sports.
In addition to her broadcasting career, Barrera appeared on CMT’s Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge in 2014.
