Former KENS 5 anchor is living her dream as Hampton Roads lifestyle show host

The last time San Antonio news watchers saw Chelsey Khan on TV, she was Chelsey Hernandez. Since leaving her post at KENS 5, the journalist has tied the knot and moved from Houston to the East Coast to take on her “dream job.”

Khan is in the first month of her new role as the co-host of the Hampton Roads Show alongside Chris Reckling. Not to be confused with New York’s pricey summer getaway, Hampton Roads is know as America’s first region, covering Portsmouth, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Suffolk, Hampton and Newport News.

While at KENS, Khan worked as the traffic anchor. In 2018, she moved to KTRK, an ABC-owned station in Houston, covering all the ways residents there could stretch their dollars as a consumer reporter.

Now, she’s the bubbly personality that fills Hampton Roads residents in on area happenings with a smile and cup of coffee.

She and her husband Nadim Khan are settling into their new home in Virginia Beach, taking “little adventures” on the weekends. She says they recently made the drive up to New York City and are 20 minutes away from the beach and all the seafood you can get, which sounds like a dream in itself. They have a weekend trip to Washington, D.C. in the works.

“It’s been a huge blessing,” she says. “Everything always comes full circle and I think for me it is living out my dream while living on the East Coast, which is something we both wanted to do in our lives and it’s just exciting to see what’s going to come next.”

Though Khan has been away from San Antonio for years, she credits her time here for polishing her warm and energetic personality that makes her a perfect fit for her new role in the East Coast news scene.

The UTSA graduate interned at Fox 29’s daytime show with Kimberly Crawford before joining the KENS team in 2015. She says Crawford always assured her that her “spark and talents” would guide her.

“If you’ve ever had that moment in life, where you realize, ‘I’m right where I’m supposed to be.’ It’s an overwhelming, joyful feeling that sends goosebumps down your arms,” she says. “That’s what I get almost every week that I’ve been here.”

Khan still tries to stay connected with her San Antonio fans via social media. Though she’s built an Instagram following of 17,000, she says she tries to respond to each direct message she receives. Amid the congratulatory wishes, requests for on-air outfit details and shopping tips, Khan says she gets messages from Alamo City viewers who share how much they miss seeing her on TV.

“Knowing that you can impact someone’s life like that is something that I pray for every single day — to just shine that positivity and light onto others,” she adds. “When I receive those DMs it’s like ‘Wow, I did what I prayed for.'”