Popular Texas FOX 26 anchor DaLaun Dillard recently announced that he would be leaving the news station after just three years. He announced his exit on social media, stating that “some chapters are harder to close than others.” Dillard first joined the station in December 2023, where he shared anchor duties with Melissa Wilson on “Houston’s Morning Show,” which aired weekdays from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Before he became a member of the FOX 26 family, Dillard was an anchor in Cleveland, Omaha. He also worked as a reporter and news anchor in Peoria as well. Dillard stated that his last day on the air with FOX 26 would be Friday, October 23. However, the anchor did not share what his future plans might include. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Dillard said his departure is due to his contract not being renewed.
Dillard graduated from Central Michigan University and is a member of the 100 Black Men of America and the National Association of Black Journalists. “These past three years, I’ve experienced some of the greatest joy and happiness of my life, especially in my personal life,” he said in a post on Instagram. “The opportunity to serve this community and the love y’all show me has been far greater than anything I could’ve ever asked God for.”
According to a report from the Houston Chronicle, commenters on the post praised Dillard for his sense of humor. One individual on Facebook wrote, “I only watched because you made me laugh and the news interesting.” Another person on Instagram said, “I love watching Fox News because of you.” Someone else wrote, that Dillard’s reporting helped them through each of their morning chemotherapy sessions.
“As this chapter comes to a close, I’m grateful for every blessing it brought and excited for all that God is writing in the next chapter,” Dillard stated in his announcement. Dillard’s departure comes hot on the heels of another Houston anchor parting ways with a local network. Weekend morning anchor Charly Edsitty announced she was leaving ABC13 in September 2026 after eight years with the station.
Edsitty started her time with KTRK in 2018, where she served as a multimedia journalist before moving up to become a weekend morning anchor in 2023. News of her departure was first reported by media blogger Mike McGuff. The station then confirmed to the Houston Chronicle that Edsitty’s last day would be on September 24.
The popular weekend anchor is a Baylor graduate and covered a wide variety of major news events in the city of Houston, including the COVID pandemic, the 2021 freeze, and Hurricane Beryl in 2024. “I will miss so much about Houston, and that includes our amazing viewers as well as my dear news family,” Edsitty said in a post on Instagram.
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“I will miss them the most,” she continued. Before coming to Houston, Edsitty was a planning producer and on-air reporter in her home state of Arizona. “This was a very difficult decision, and I’ve been a ball of emotions recently because I have had SO MUCH FUN living and reporting in Southeast Texas,” Edsitty said in her post. “But it’s time for me to get closer to home and to my family.”
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