Heidi Meili goes from NFL cheerleader to newscaster (2024)

Heidi Meili visits the living rooms of thousands of westernMontanans every weeknight as the co-anchor, with Wade Muehlhof, ofKECI-TV's news. Loyal viewers also may know that she spent fiveyears as a Seattle Seahawks cheerleader, and that her sister,Launi, won an Olympic gold medal at Barcelona in 1992.

The daughter of longtime elementary schoolteachers in theSpokane area, Meili grew up at Fish Lake outside Cheney, Wash. Sheattended Washington State University, where she earned a bachelor'sdegree in English education and a master's in communications.During her five years as an NFL cheerleader, Meili also worked thegraveyard shift at KIRO-TV and Northwest Cable News, often crashingin the women's bathroom on a couch between cheerleading rehearsalsand her job.

In the Missoula home where she housesits for owners who havegone south for the winter, a barefoot Meili spread some mementosfrom her cheerleading days - she was Sea Gal of the Year in 1995 -on the kitchen table, then sat down to play 20 questions.

Q: Who are your favorite anchors?

A: I love Maria Shriver and Diane Sawyerbecause they're very … they're kind of subdued. In my mind, when Iwatch them, they don't try to be out there and really animated andreally obnoxious. They kind of let the story come out, and I thinkthat's a wonderful skill.

Q: Can you tell me something about your jobthat viewers might not realize?

A: Gosh - they probably don't realize that wedon't make a lot of money. Here's a story. I went to get my carfixed. I have an old, old car. A 1992 Chevy. You know, it smokes alot, even the dashboard smokes, and I took it into the shop and thefellow afterward who drove me to work said, "You know, the fellowsin the back thought you were Heidi Meili but then when they sawyour car they thought, "No way is that Heidi Meili." Along the samelines, I thought it was hysterical when I was reading your paperand people had mentioned - I wasn't THE best-dressed - but peoplehad mentioned my name, kind of as a runner-up. I don't think theyrealize I have six wash-and-wear outfits, in the wash machine, onthe hanger, that's all, that I wear on TV. I rotate 'em. If youwatch, I have a red one, a purple one, two black ones, a green one,a brown one and a yellow one. That's it. You watch.

Q: Got any stories on Wade Muehlhof?

A: Oh, he will kill me. During the commercials,he loves to pretend to be very sophisticated, and when the cameraguys are making his shots, he'll tilt his head and give a look tothe camera, and he'll say (in a deep voice), "Hi, I'm RockFreeman."

Q: What's the biggest story you've coveredwhile you've been at KECI?

A: The Florence murders. At least that's theone I feel most deeply. I've gone through a death in my family,too, so I know what the grieving is, I know what that shock is,when … no no no, no no no, this didn't just happen, no, we didn'tjust lose this person. And the hardest part in my personal life waswhen all the attention was fading off, and everybody started to goabout their daily life … girlfriends would try to take me outshopping and I would see all these people buying normal things, andI would say, "Wait a minute, why are you doing normal things? Lifeis not normal anymore." So I know when I'm sitting there insomebody's living room every night - and these are stories you talkabout for many weeks - I'm telling a husband about how his wife wasmurdered. And that's a huge responsibility.

Q: Can I ask you who you lost?

A: I lost a brother. My brother. When he was16. There was a … just a terrible accident. It was hard, but what'sthe hardest is watching your dad, the biggest, strongest man, cryfor days. He still cries in church. We still have to sit in theback in church, because that's where the funeral was.

Q: Your sister, Launi, won an Olympic goldmedal in rifle shooting - tell me about that. Were you in Barcelonawhen she won?

A: Yes. I wish I had the tape for you. It wasthe absolute highest moment of my life. My brother was there. Myfamily was there. That, I think affected me - that and my brother'sdeath are the two things that have affected me the most, because …I mean, she's cool as a cucumber down there with a rifle, and shehas to hit (a target) the size of less than a dime. I mean, it'sminute, and it's 100 yards away. She's done this for 14 years. Shota gun four hours a day, 14 years. The way I work, and how I try toimprove in life, is very much from how my dad trained her and howshe competed. She was a person who was just steady and solid. Shewas just … she was always a threat, always very predictable, in herscores, in her manner, in her shooting, and pretty soon everybodyelse messes up. She never looked at a competitor. She was greatfriends with them, but she never looked at them, at a score, attheir technique. There's a book called "That's Outside My Boat."You should read it. There's only so much you can control. That'show my sister operated. And so nothing made her nervous. You know,she has to control her heartbeat when she shoots. It's, bu-bum …bu-bum … and she's sighting in on the downbeat of her heart, andfinally, when she feels it … ba-bum, ba-bum, click. So, she's coolas a cucumber. I'm up in the stands, and I'm just ants in my pants.I just wanted it for her so much. I kept thinking, she's gonna dropone shot - just one 8 instead of a 10 - and she's out. And so Ifelt the pressure. But she didn't.

Q: Do the two of you ever get together, down afew beers, and shoot the empties off of fence posts?

A: No, no … I will shoot with my dad. And I canbeat my sister in trap. But that's a whole different gun. I was … Iwas not … you have to sit still for four hours a day, and that's alot for an 11-, 12-year-old, when my dad had me do that, you know,out the back door, down the driveway, shooting. When I came homefrom school I had to feed the chickens and shoot my gun for anhour. Or, if I wasn't shooting, I was holding it still on thetarget for a certain number of minutes. Hardest day of my life,eighth grade, I had to tell my dad - he was taking me to riflepractice - "Dad, I hate this." I wanted to go to gymnastics class.All my girlfriends went to gymnastics class, and I went to riflepractice. I was more ants-in-the-pants dancing. I tried out foreverything … tried out for college cheerleader. My mom was so sureI wasn't going to make it she came down to Pullman on the night oftryouts. Every single time I tried out my mom would show up becauseshe thought I would be devastated. I'd come out of the finals andthere'd be my mom in the hall. Just worried about me. And I'd makeit. I'm probably going off on this story, but my sister, when shewent down to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado, my dad gother this 1979 Malibu station wagon. Silver. Plastic seats. And -we're not big into cars, we're more into land - after she wasfinished with this car she gave it to me to drive around college.I'd kinda mentioned to my mom and dad, I'd like to try out for theNFL. I really wanted to be a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. Seventhgrade, I was a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader on Halloween. So I wrotethe Seahawks, found out when the auditions were, and I was terriblyscared I was way overweight. I always felt overweight during thewhole cheerleading thing. I was always more of a stocky girl thanthe slim little dancer girls. I was probably too stupid to realize,this might not be the best thing that you have the talent for. ButI was doing it anyway. (My parents) weren't excited about theSeahawks thing. Well, the words did not actually come out of theirmouths that "You are forbidden to go and try out." So I got the '79Malibu station wagon, only went 45 mph over Snoqualmie Pass, wentover, tried out, and I made it. Now the predicament: How do I tellmy parents I'm an NFL cheerleader? That took a few days. I didn'thave any money, didn't have a place to live, and I'd justgraduated. And then I had to ask my girlfriend's mom and dad, "CanI stay in a room here?" And I did. And that's when I startedlooking for the teaching jobs and the overnight news jobs, becauseI had this news degree. Then I started dancing. (She laughs.) Iforget what your question was.

Q: I forget what my name was. What didcheerleading pay?

A: Fifteen dollars a game.

Q: Fifteen? As in one-five?

A: Maybe I got a raise to $20 a game by theend. Yeah, because there were 10 home games, and by the end of thatseason I got a $200 check. That didn't even cover my nylons.

Q: Some people in the Missoulian newsroom -I'll call them "women" - have asked me to ask you your secret to alovely complexion.

A: Really? Hot dog! That is something I've hadto work at very hard. Even though I drive a cruddy old car aroundand I don't have new clothes, I've had to pay attention to my hairand my skin just because I've chosen to make that a center focus.And I've gone to a lot of doctors and a lot of differentaestheticians, and I'll just say, there's one named Mary in townwho's given me the most help, and I've gotten away from artificialtype makeup. Everything she gives me to put on my face … I want tosay they're kind of Egyptian products, the Egyptians are very intonatural skin and hair care. They use all of those aromatherapy-typeoils and natural things like lavender and chamomile, so I haveproducts much like that, and that's what keeps it moisturized themost. I wear a lot of makeup for my job. But I have this kind ofmakeup, I don't even know the name of it, that my aestheticiangives me - I don't even wear liquid makeup. It's this crushedminerals and rocks, this powdery stuff, and it kind of sinks intoyour face.

Q: How about instead we tell them that everynight you wrap your pillow in Saran Wrap, mix up a mask of mud, raweggs, sliced lemons and beer and wear it to bed?

A: Tell 'em that! Tell 'em that! What could wetell them that I do? Tell 'em I do that seaweed wrap every night orsomething.

Q: Maybe instead of your crushed rocks andminerals, we'll tell them gravel and garlic.

A: Oh, you'll get me in trouble. You'll havewomen out in their garden rubbing dirt on their faces and call meup and say, "My dirt doesn't work at all."

Q: Seriously, how important are looks to yourprofession?

A: I would say there are two ways you can go. You can go toWashington, D.C., and be a correspondent and maybe your looksaren't as important. Maybe how much you understand the issues is.If you go to the E! entertainment network or the Fox network, veryimportant. Because news anymore is a whole presentation that'scompeting for people's attention. I used to be very afraid of that.I used to think, gosh, I love this news job, but I really don'twant to cut my hair short, like they tell you you have to do.

Q: You had people tell you to cut yourhair?

A: In Seattle. In Seattle they would. When Iwas trying to be on the air, they would say, "You'd have to cutyour hair." That scared the daylights out of me. It made me think,well, maybe news isn't for me. Maybe I need to do something else.So far in Missoula they seem to like me. I think. I hope. So far Ihaven't had any trouble being myself.

Q: What's been your most embarrassing on-cameramoment?

A: I've had embarrassing moments, let me tellyou. This one wasn't on-camera, but the very first time I walkedout into the Kingdome, very first routine, before the game evenstarted: We had these outfits that were open, all the way down toyour bellybutton. And right around this area (she indicates justbelow her cleavage) that kept your whole self in is a little strap.Well I'm in the middle of the 50-yard line, center of the field,pompoms in both of my hands, and I don't even know which is forwardand back, cuz now this stadium is full of people, I'm alreadyconfused, and that strap pops out. Hello! I can't grab anything,because my pompoms are in my hands. I think I duct-taped myselftogether after that.

Q: I've never interviewed a Seattle Seahawkscheerleader before. I did date a Vikings cheerleader once.

A: Hot dog! Did you?

Q: Yeah, she was from Charlo. Were you allowedto get to know the players at all?

A: OK. Well … yes, you were at many communityevents with them. You were asked not to date them, because thatreally wasn't your role and it usually always turned out badly. ButChristian Fauria? Great friend of mine. Sam Adams? I was hisgolfing partner at a golf match, and I was so terrible. Poor guy.He would coach me, tell me, "Heidi, the goal for this one is justcontact with the ball." It was fun. There was one that I saw,secretly. I met him at a pizza thing. I kinda didn't pay attentionto him for a while, cuz, you know, football player, milliongirlfriends, whatever. But we were at some kind of pizza night, andhe sat across from me, and he would just stare at me. And then,during the games, when the guys ran out, and we'd make our littlepompon line, he would point at me when he ran by. And he'd do thisfor a while. Finally, I talked to him after a game and whatnot, andwe kinda saw each other for a couple of years.

Q: Who was it?

A: (Linebacker) Dean Wells (now of the CarolinaPanthers). Big football player: He took me to Wendy's. This was ourbig date. Wendy's. The drive-through!

Q: Do you consider yourself a journalist or a TVpersonality?

A: Both. I've worked very, very hard at both. Iwent to school, I got a master's degree in broadcasting. I workedmy buns off getting up at midnight to work in two Seattle stationsto learn from them and write for them. I worked as a radio reporterfor National Public Radio. I've worked very hard to do arespectable job for people who only have so much time in their day.In my personal time, in my fun time, I like to do the Heart Walk,be that chairperson, go to the luncheons I'm invited to. I lovethat. What a privilege. How lucky am I, that I get invited, that Iget included.

Q: Do you get nervous before you go on-air?

A: No. Remember that my sister shot a rifle forhowever long, 30 minutes, against the best shooters in the world,and she had to hit a target as big as a pin, 10 times in a row, andshe couldn't miss. That I would be nervous for. Me sitting down infront of a camera, that's nothing compared to the pressure somepeople have in their lives.