Longtime Knoxville TV personality Lori Tucker is leaving the studio after announcing her plans to retire nearly eight months ago. Her final day at the desk is Oct. 16.
Tucker, an anchor on WATE's 4, 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts, has been with Channel 6 since 1993. Prior to her time in Knoxville, she worked at KATV in Little Rock, Arkansas; KMOL in San Antonio, Texas; and KHTV in Houston, Texas.
During a March 10 broadcast on the ABC affiliate station, Tucker shared with Knoxvillians who had been watching her for 33 years that she hoped to spend more time with her family and grandkids after she retired.
"We have a lot of interesting things to do between now and when I say goodbye, but I'm also looking forward to the next adventure, and the biggest part
of that is my growing family," Tucker said. "We have three granddaughters now. Steve (Tucker's husband) and I look forward to lots of travel together with our kids and grandkids."
When Tucker announced her retirement, her two daughters and three grandkids appeared on air with her. She also shared some of her favorite memories from her time at WATE, including winning Dancing with the Knoxville Stars in 2009 by raising the most money for what was then called the East Tennessee Children's Hospital and starting the Project GRAD laptop telethon.
Knoxville TV news turnover
Tucker's retirement comes amid a recent wave of turnovers at Knoxville's local TV stations. However, most have left for other TV stations or career opportunities rather than retiring.
Longtime WBIR anchor Abby Ham announced she would be leaving Channel 10 on Jan. 6. In May, another WBIR anchor, Heather Waliga, announced she, too, would be leaving. The two later started We Know People Media together.
Heather Haley, a meteorologist at WVLT-TV, left her post at Channel 8 in July 2025 to move into a teaching role and a position as a radio meteorologist and climate reporter.
Several other multimedia journalists, TV anchors and meteorologists have left Knoxville stations, WATE, WBIR and WVLT-TV over the past few years. Some have moved on to bigger TV markets, and others have pivoted to new careers.
Most recently, WBIR meteorologist Rebecca Sweet left her TV role after 11 years to spend more time with her kids and family.
Afton Pratt covers trending and breaking news for Knox News and Tennessee. She can be reached at ampratt@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: WATE anchor Lori Tucker to sign off from Knoxville TV after 33 years
