Ginger Zee is an American TV personality, author, dancer, and actress, best known as the ABC News meteorologist for the news, talk-show series Good Morning America starting in 2011 alongside , , , , and . Ginger had her start on TV right after she graduated from college and worked for TV and radio stations such as WEYI-TV, WYIN-TV, WOOD-TV, WLAV-FM, WMAQ (NBC), and WBMA-LD. During the time period she worked with WMAQ (2006-2011), an NBC-owned TV station, she was asked to jump in and fill the spot of a guest meteorologist on the weekend edition of The Today Show. This was the fulfillment of her goal that she set at her college graduation, which was to appear on The Today Show by the time she turned 30.
On November 12, 2011, Ginger joined ABC News TV news, talk-show, Good Morning America Weekend, and guest-starred on other ABC programs such as ABC News Nightline (2012-2014) and ABC World News Tonight with David Muir (2012-2017). At the end of 2013, ABC News made an announcement that Ginger would be promoted into a Chief Meteorologist for Good Morning America, and also become ABC News weather editor. In 2016, she was also a contestant on the 22nd season of the music, game-show Dancing with the Stars, paired with professional dancer , and ended up in 3rd place. Ginger is also an accomplished author who has published books such as Natural Disaster: I Cover Them, I Am One (2017), Chasing Helicity (2018), and Chasing Helicity Into the Wind (2019).
Sun Sign
Capricorn
Residence
New York City, New York, United States
Nationality
Education
Ginger Zee attended Rockford High School in Rockford, Michigan, United States, and graduated in 1999.
She then enrolled in Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, United States, and got her bachelor of arts degree in meteorology from there. She also minored in Spanish and mathematics.
Manager
Ginger Zee is represented by –
- N.S. Bienstock (Talent Agent) in New York City, New York, United States
- United Talent Agency (UTA) (Talent Agent Commercial) in Beverly Hills, California, United States
Boyfriend / Spouse
Ginger Zee has dated –
- Ben Aaron (2012-Present) – In 2012, she began dating fellow American actor and TV personality Ben Aaron, who later became known as the co-host of the TV talk-show series Pickler & Ben starting in 2017. After around a year of dating, in August 2013, the pair got engaged. Ginger and Ben got married on June 7, 2014, in a wedding venue at the Little Traverse Bay overlooking Lake Michigan located in the Northern part of Michigan, United States. The venue was decorated in white roses and illuminated with Coyer Candle Co. soy candles. Guests were served Herman’s Boy bagel dogs and Traverse City cherries in their salad, while in their rooms they found a signature Mackinac Island chocolate fudge. The atmosphere was made better by her brother Sean and his band Outer Vibe, as well as outdoor festivities on the Lake Michigan coastline. Ginger and Ben welcomed their 1st child, a son named Adrian Benjamin Colonomos, around a year and a half later, on December 17, 2015. Adrian was born at 11:05 AM, weighed 7 lbs or 3 kg and measured 20.5 inches or 52 cm in length. In mid-August 2017, the two announced they were expecting their 2nd kid, and welcomed their 2nd son, named Miles Macklin Colonomos, on February 9, 2018, who weighed 8 lbs or 3.5 kg and measured 21.5 inches or 54.5 cm long. She also works hard to make family life work because she has a strict schedule working on television. It is also made a little harder because, due to the nature of his work, her husband Ben often split his time between New York City, New York, and Nashville, Tennessee, United States.
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
Thin lips
Best Known For
- Being a Chief Meteorologist for Good Morning America starting in late 2013
- Being a contestant in the music, game-show Dancing with the Stars in 2016, and finishing in the 3rd place
- Her social media fanbase with more than 2.5 million followers on Twitter, more than 900k followers on Instagram, and more than 600k followers on Facebook
First TV Show
Ginger Zee made her first TV show appearance as ‘Herself’ in an episode titled Back Seat Driver of the documentary series Storm Chasers in October 2010.
As an uncredited voice actress, Ginger Zee made her first TV show appearance as Dr. Zephyr Skye in an episode of the animation, adventure, family series Miles from Tomorrowland in November 2016.
She made her credited voice acting debut on Golic and Wingo in 2018.
Personal Trainer
Growing up, Ginger had eating struggles connected to anorexia. When she had the desire to control something in her life following her parents’ divorce, she decided: “I’ll just not eat!” Ginger even lied to herself and others that she ate already. Her mom noticed that something was wrong when she saw her at the airport and it was obvious that her weight spiraled down from 90 lbs or 41 kg to 70 lbs or 32 kg, and she could see every bone in her body clearly.
Ginger’s mom took her to the hospital immediately, and she reported struggling with until she enrolled in college, when she finally felt ready to appreciate food after years of therapy. As of March 2019, Ginger wakes up at 4:00 AM every morning and takes a shower. She uses the steam on the glass of the shower door to write a few things she’s thankful for, and always adds a little image of 2 footprints to signify her sons. On the other side, she always writes 1 goal she wants to achieve or focus on more closely.
After she gets out of the shower, she removes her the remnants of the makeup from the day before and puts moisturizer everywhere on her body as it helps her slow down aging. On the way to the studio, she checks her e-mails and starts meditating. Ginger usually takes a deep breath while thinking about her favorite colors, blue and green, and exhales while thinking of red, symbolizing all of the negativity leaving her body.
When she’s at work, Ginger put eye patches to remove or reduce black circles under the eyes and then does her Facebook Live teaser after she gets her makeup done. Before she enters the studio, she has to FaceTime her sons, or at least get pictures or videos of them to continue with her day. After her segment on Good Morning America ends, at approximately 9:00 AM, she starts her workout before meetings. Ginger eats afterward and sometimes even manages to squeeze a with her family at home.
Ginger’s workout routine varies depending on the time and energy on a given day – from such as on a treadmill, , or , she makes sure she gets it done before her segment on World News on ABC News starts in the afternoon. Ginger also with humpback whales in late January 2019 off the coast of the Dominican Republic.
Ginger Zee Favorite Things
- School Subjects – Science, Mathematics
- University Subjects – Physics, Dynamics, Synoptics, Thermodynamics
- Singer –
- Colors – Blue, Green
Source – , ,
Ginger Zee Facts
- Her paternal grandparents immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands.
- Her name, Ginger, was given to her by her Dutch father, Robert “Bob” Zuidgeest. He learned English by watching the TV series Gilligan’s Island (1964-1992) and named her after the character of Ginger Grant, played by Tina Louise.
- Ginger’s whole family moved from Orange, California, to Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States before she turned 1 year old.
- Ginger wanted to become a meteorologist after she saw a waterspout on Lake Michigan at the age of 8, and thought it was the coolest thing she ever saw.
- She has a black labrador named Otis.
- At the age of 21, she was diagnosed with . She took every pill she could find in her medicine cabinet, which worried her roommate and ex-boyfriend, who took her to the doctor.
- She described her 1st encounter with depression as: “Depression for me has been a couple of different things. The first time I felt it, I felt helpless, hopeless and things I had never felt before. I lost myself and my will to live. I just shut down. It wasn’t worth living. I was wasting people’s time and space.”
- It wasn’t until the age of 25 when she got her job on TV that Ginger felt her illness would ruin an outstanding opportunity in life. She met with a therapist during a weeklong program, who changed her life, helped her find the will to live, and partially motivated her to write her 1st book.
- She was awarded a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist title by the American Meteorological Society in the past.
- Ginger has revealed that on the 1st day of a new job she always dresses “ridiculously conservative.”
- In July 2019, she revealed that an abusive relationship with an ex-boyfriend actually helped her. According to her, it was good preparation for the terrorist interrogation training she had to undergo at ABC News.
- Follow her on , , and .
Featured Image by Yahoo / / CC BY-2.0
Facts of Ginger Renee Zuidgees
- Gender Female
- full nameGinger Renee Zuidgees
- middle nameRenee
- nicknamesGinger Zee
- birthplaceOrange, California, United States
- Date of Birth January 13, 1981
- Age 43 years 7 months
- Horoscope Capricorn
- Lucky Number 6
- Lucky Stone Topaz
- Lucky Color Brown
- Best Match for Marriage Scorpio, Virgo, Taurus
- ethnicity / ethnic backgroundDutch, German, and English
- nationalityAmerican
- net worth$1 million
- professionTV Personality, Actress, Author, Dancer
- weight61 kg or 134.5 lbs
- height5 ft 6.5 in or 169 cm
- hair colorLight Brown
- eye colorIce Blue
- body type / buildSlim
- high schoolRockford High
- collegeValparaiso University
- motherDawn Zuidgeest-Craft
- fatherRobert O. “Bob” Zuidgeest
- brothersSean , Walter
- favorite colorsBlue,Green