Tamron Hall Knows She’s Her Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams. Now She’s Focused On Dreaming For The Next Generation

Monday evening Zoom calls aren’t exactly the place you expect to find effortless glamour and inspiration. But when you’re interviewing the iconic talk show host, author and veteran journalist Tamron Hall, you should learn to expect the unexpected.

“The Tamron Hall Show” returned last week for its eighth season, cementing its place in television history – of the more than 110 syndicated talk shows launched since 1985, only 18 have lasted eight or more seasons. It’s no small feat in the best of landscapes, much less the challenging reality we are collectively navigating in 2026. But it all makes sense the second you’re in Hall’s presence. 

She shows up on camera in a stunning red gown, a full and flawless beat and a slicked-back coiffure that’s giving serious Josephine Baker energy. I tell her as much and she graciously thanks me, telling me it’s the first time she’s worn red since a psychic told her it wasn’t her color (more on that later), but she quickly moves on. In this moment, she’s much more concerned with making sure that her camera is positioned so that I can get my shot.

“I want to make sure you have what you need,” she tells me.

I thank her and promise to make the best use of our time. With the show premiere, promotion of her upcoming memoir documenting her reinvention journey and a slew of interviews, she’s a busy woman. But when she politely corrects me, noting “no, we both are,” I find myself surprised again. When you’ve done this work as long as I have, it’s easy to be a little jaded before celebrity interviews; grace and respect aren’t always the default. And yet, Tamron Hall gives both so effortlessly that it puts you at ease immediately. It is a rare blend of alchemy, where aspiration meets complete relatability. And it is most certainly the secret to her success. In this season of life, she is focused on conversations that help her audience live their best lives, and achieve their dreams. She knows she’s living proof of it, and she is not interested in gatekeeping.

Over the course of our conversation, she opens up about everything from her amazing guest lineup this season, including Jalen Brunson, Sarah Jakes Roberts, Tisha Campell and Chrissy Metz, to her simple pre-show ritual to her advice for starting over when all seems lost. Quoting Rihanna, she invites us to “pull up” and become an official member of the TamFam.

HelloBeautiful: This season’s theme is “let’s keep talking” and you have an amazing lineup of guests already. What goes into choosing a guest and that perfect person that you know will resonate with your audience?

Tamron Hall: We really are about the conversations. We’ve seen the landscape change. We saw some shows leave, and people questioned, “Do we have the ability to have a good conversation?” We’re fortunate to have Jalen Brunson, the most famous athlete in the world right now, during our September 14 premiere. But our conversation isn’t about a championship or rings or what’s next for the Knicks. It’s with his mother and father talking about: how do you raise a champion? We all want that inner resilience. What did it take for these two former athletes to raise their son this way? And I think that distinguishes our show.

We also have Tisha Campbell and Zen, her son, and their beautiful memoir about the journey of raising a child diagnosed with autism and giving him freedom. That one is not just a conversation with Tisha about being a mom or her son. It’s ‘my son faces this or that challenge, but how do I get him to believe in himself, and how do I let go of the reins?’ This is a side of Tisha Campbell we never get a chance to see.

With our show, we have thoughtful, fun conversations, but then are able to pivot to the heavy topics too, like the Lindsey Clancy case, and how that conversation happens along gender and race lines.

HB: That is something so many people are struggling with right now: how to have real conversations in a moment when things are tense and the lines are drawn along moral lines.  What advice would you give people for that?

TH: Watch The Tamron Hall show. That’s my advice because that’s what we’re about. You know, we’re having the conversations. We laugh, we cry, we do fashion. We talk about real conversations that me and my friends are talking about. This is a show that reflects life, right? If I sat down with you and you only talk about sports, I’d be bored. If you only talk beauty, I’d be like, okay, I like this brand, I like that brand. Cool, what else? When you sit down with me, we can talk about it all, right? I’m going to leave you dressing fly, feeling like a champion, looking good, and, you know, being a better parent.

HB: You are such a source of inspiration for so many women. This is such a tough time in every industry, but right now in media, in television, in entertainment, especially for Black women. We’ve seen staggering job loss and roles being eliminated overnight. Where do you see the industry going?

TH: I tell a lot of young female journalists of color: throughout my career, when I would go to a job interview, if there was a Black woman in that newsroom, I knew they were hiring me to replace her.  I replaced the same woman two times in two different cities because news directors did not believe they needed more than one Black woman. So, the challenges that we face right now come in many different forms. But it’s not new.

But what we’ve always done is not allow the system to make us one-dimensional. We rebrand as independent journalists, like my friend Joy-Anne Reid did and Tiffany Cross did. We rebrand and become digital YouTube content creators and podcasters, who are not only just talking the talk, we are now owning our own IP. For me, it’s very personal. I don’t want anyone to believe that this challenge started today and that it’s going to go away tomorrow. Because at my ripe old age of 56, I can tell you, I walked into so many newsrooms in the ’90s and the 2000s, and I caught the eye of the other brown woman in that building, and we knew what the deal was, and we knew the likelihood of us both being allowed to thrive in that environment was zero to none. But we kept fighting, and now the next generation has something I actually envy, and I don’t envy a lot about anybody. But the ability to own your IP, create your own network, become independent journalists, or come to places like HelloBeautiful, who separate themselves by saying, ‘We want to be in the conversation. Let’s talk about.’ And that’s why I’m so thrilled that you wanted to talk to me. This is an important platform you’re on, and it is not lost on me how masterfully you all link us in the spaces that we enjoy and have fun, and link us in the spaces where we are uncomfortable and feel unheard.

HB: Thank you so much for that! And speaking of IP, you’ve written your first memoir, Bet On Yourself, coming out in January. What was that process like? I’d imagine it’s pretty scary to share those truths.

TH: Honestly, it wasn’t scary at all. I decided I wanted to share what it was like to lose the biggest job I’d ever had and then rebuild. It’s not about a grievance or looking back or someone else’s decision that could have broken me. It’s about my decisions that kept me going.

It really does start when I got the note, via text message, on air, that I would not be in the same role, and that I had an offer on the table, but was that offer enough to satisfy me? And I decided it wasn’t. I didn’t know what was coming next, and so I leaned on my faith.

[In the book], I reveal things from my childhood that inspired me in that tough moment. Because when you are facing a challenge, when you are in a moment of adversity, you have to call upon things from your past. Whether it’s a spiritual scripture or someone who once told you that you could do it. You have to draw on that strength.

HB: I love that because I do think so many of us are in this season of reinvention, and even though you might have your faith, you might question it and say, my goodness, how am I going to survive?

TH: Absolutely. It’s natural to ask, ‘why is this happening to me?’ But in truth, you can choose to look at the dust and the pain, or you can decide: I’m going to keep my wings light so that I can fly.

It’s also important that people understand that the book is not a guide, it’s not a how to do it. I’m still trying to figure out how to do it. I’m still trying to get it right. Listen, I don’t know a job that doesn’t come with pressure. I don’t know a journey that doesn’t come untested. I don’t. But think about all of the black and brown women who came before us who had far less, who had nothing. In 1970, the year I was born, women could not have their own checking accounts. So for me, that perspective matters, because now you’re able to armor up, and you’re able to draw from their successes and add to it. That’s why I love the saying, ‘I am my ancestors’ wildest dreams.’

HB: Well, I know when your ancestors were dreaming, they must have been dreaming of you looking as fab as you do right now! I’d be remiss not to discuss this look tonight, because you are serving.

TH: The dress is Ralph Lauren, the shoes are Tom Ford and the accessories are Alexis Bittar. I don’t wear red a lot. I talked about this recently on my Instagram. Years ago, I went to a psychic, and she said, ‘Don’t wear red! Your personality is so overwhelming.’ And I stopped wearing red for years. Now, she has forgotten she ever said it to me. But I carried it with me all these years. I use that as an example. You can’t make decisions on something someone said to you that they don’t even remember and here you are taking it so seriously. So I’m feeling good in red tonight.

HB: Let’s talk about fashion for the show. What goes into choosing your looks for each episode?

TH: It’s so intentional. My team is phenomenal. Johnny Wright has been my hairstylist for over 25 years, and the only break we ever had was when he was at the White House with Michelle Obama for eight years. Raul Otero and Billie Gene are my makeup artists and Memsar [Kamarake] is my stylist and they work as a beautiful team. For us, particularly, I think women of color, you know, our style is celebrated because we lead with intention in our fashions. It’s a part of our story, right? It has gotten us in rooms that close us out. It has shown that we have class and beauty and range when people thought we were one-dimensional. So, our fashions have always been part of our story. It’s our history. Probably two weeks in advance, we pick out everything from the Spanx to the tops and the bottoms. We do 172 shows a season. So I tell my team, I don’t have time to be fumbling through Spanx and sticky bras. I need to know everything so that we can go out the door and I can feel confident. And they do that for me.

HB: Do you have a pre-show ritual when you’re getting your makeup and hair done to get you in that mindset?

TH: You know, I don’t. But it’s interesting you ask me that, because many years ago I had a chance to talk with Dolly Parton and I said, ‘well, what do you do before you go out?’ And I thought a lot about it after her recent passing, and she said, “Pee and pray.”  So that’s my ritual. I pee and I pray.

HB: Do you have a favorite guest this season or a favorite of all time?

TH: You know, it’s interesting because, as I said, I’ve been a journalist over 30 years now, and honestly, it’s not a person; it’s a feeling. I’ve had wish lists, and then you get a chance to interview the person, and maybe they don’t really want to be interviewed, or they’re reluctant to speak. So, for me, it doesn’t matter if the person is the biggest star in the world, or someone who went viral because of something or an up-and-coming talent. It’s really a willingness to talk, right? It’s a willingness to be vulnerable and honest, to not always have to pretend that it’s okay or look exactly perfect.

HB: Any final goals for this season or final words of wisdom?

TH: Listen, I’m happy where I am, and if the show ends tomorrow, I am owed nothing because I believe that women over 45, women of color, we’ve got to understand that the room doesn’t determine if we should be there. We build our own rooms, and no person can keep you off a team. You are the team

Allison McGevna is the senior vice president of content at iONE Digital. Follow her at @alliemcgev.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For local times and channels to watch the Tamron Hall Show, visit  www.TamronHallShow.com and follow at @TamronHallShow.