Forget Reporter Ted. Call him Pastor Ted now.
Ted Chen, a familiar face at NBC4 News in Los Angeles since 1995, said his final goodbyes Wednesday night before embarking on a new path as a Christian minister.
“Many of you know that I've been in the seminar for the last few years,” he said, sitting with co-hosts Colleen Williams and Michael Brownlee after watching a video tribute to his time in front of the camera. “I got my master's degree in Christian studies and right now I'm pursuing my doctorate, my doctorate in ministry. So, yes, I will graduate to go into full-time ministry starting tomorrow.”
Still, after more than 30 years at full speed, I might need a minute. But Chen said he's looking forward to “a little bit of a slower pace and the opportunity to dig deeper” in the future — that and not having to tell his wife that he has to rush out on short notice because of a work matter.
“I'm definitely going to miss it,” he said. “I tell people there's a shot of adrenaline in this, in being part of this business. There's a serious, heavy responsibility that I've taken on over the years.”
Chen's career took him from Reno to Fresno to San Diego during those years and finally to Los Angeles, where his favorite assignment ended up being the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
“It was China's first Olympics and I remember how proud my parents were… They were just so excited,” he said. “And it was very meaningful to see that moment for China and go into the field and cover the plight of farmers.”
Chen also enjoyed all the award shows he worked on. Hey, who says a journalist has to be serious all the time? – and said that “as a Trekkie,” his favorite celebrity interview was with actor Leonard Nimoy.
“I don't normally get dazzled,” Chen said, “but… him. Mr. Spock. Wow, yo.
In the farewell video, NBC4 Orange County reporter Hetty Chang recalled the moment she realized Chen was something special to the people of Los Angeles.
“The first time I participated in the Golden Dragon Chinese New Year parade with him, I looked at him and thought, 'Are you working as a movie star?'” she said. “Because people stopped our car, our little float and [they were saying things] like, 'Stop the car! 'I want to take a photo with Ted Chen!'”
Chen’s wife, Ariell, wrote “I AM SO PROUD OF YOU” in an Instagram Story on Thursday urging her followers to watch his farewell on air. The two met across the country through a matchmaker after she, then Ariell Kirylo, moved from the Los Angeles area. They discovered they shared a “spiritual home,” Vintage Church in Santa Monica.
“It was certainly an interesting twist,” she told California Wedding Day, “knowing that we were around each other all the time, but I had to move to DC to call a matchmaker from Florida to meet a man at my church in Los Angeles! And they say dating in Los Angeles is hard.”
NBCLA did not immediately respond Thursday to the Times' request for comment, but Ted Chen put things in perspective, borrowing a page from all those athletes he had seen over the years and telling Brownlee and Williams after all their kind words: “I'll take the breath and give God all the glory.”
