Tragic Details Of Fox News Anchor Julie Banderas

When Fox News' Julie Banderas opens up about her personal life, she's generally sharing the happier moments (like family trips, her kids' dance competitions, and their day-to-day antics). However, every once in a while, she's shared some of the sadder things that have happened in her life, too — and unfortunately, there have been a few. 

We'll start with the death of her father. Banderas — whose real last name is Bidwell — opened up about her father's passing on New Year's Day 2011, revealing that he'd died just over a month prior. "I lost my dad to Parkinson's a week before Thanksgiving in 2010," she shared (via BigAppleChannel1). The Fox star's voice broke as she continued, "Today would have been his 81st birthday." Banderas was audibly emotional again as she ended her tribute with words from both her and her siblings: "Hope you're watching from a better place. We love you."

Over the years, Banderas has shared a few glimpses of her dad via social media, and she's spoken about missing him. In honor of Veterans Day in 2018, she posted a black-and-white pic of him during his days in the Navy to her X account. "My dad, Howard Dexter Bidwell. I will never forget you or your service to our country," she wrote. A few years on, in January 2021, she shared a sweet photo dump on Instagram to commemorate what would have been his 91st birthday. "I love and miss you Daddy, every day," she captioned the post.  

Julie Banderas went through quite a contentious divorce in 2023 (more on that later). That seems to have been wrapped up, but it is worth noting that in the time since Banderas announced her divorce, she has mentioned on a few occasions how unhappy she'd been in her marriage to Andrew Sansone. 

Some may remember that Banderas revealed she was getting a divorce live on air on "Gutfeld!" In the episode, which aired just a few days ahead of Valentine's Day, Banderas quipped that she disliked the holiday and had never gotten anything for it during her marriage (via People). She then spelled it out for anyone who was confused. "I'm getting a divorce. I am going to go ahead and say it right here for the very first time," she said. 

Understandably, social media blew up with viewers commenting on the situation — and one X post in particular caught her attention. "They say [you're] not an adult until you have been divorced once. Good luck going forward, in the end you'll wish you had done it sooner," it read. Enter, a zinger of a response from Banderas: "Yeah, like 13 years ago." Perhaps it's time to add Banderas to our list of the shadiest Fox News anchors, because yikes! In 2024, Banderas once again alluded to the divorce being a great decision in an X post. After someone commented that she seemed to be having a major glow-up, she replied, "It's called, divorce. If I've learned anything through this long agonizing process it's this: it is never too late to be happy and I've never been happier!" Maybe we're reading into things, but on Valentine's Day 2025, Banderas donned an all-red look and posted it to Instagram. Coincidence? Prolly not.

Julie Banderas' comments on her divorce prompting her glow-up may come as a surprise to many, but it certainly seems as though her inner circle wasn't shocked. After all, speaking to the Daily Mail, some claimed that her and Andrew Sansone's marriage had been pretty toxic, and even suggested the news anchor's former significant other treated her poorly. 

"There was constant fighting between the two of them. It was a lot of putdowns from him to her, a lot of demeaning comments," one insider told the outlet, adding that it even happened in front of their kids at times. Another source shared a similar claim, revealing, "He would often speak to her in a very demeaning way, just really trying to make Julie feel like s*** for who she was as a person, as a mother, in her career. ... He was jealous of her and would frequently put her down."

The latter source also pointed out that the relationship had long been "rocky" — and it bears mentioning that Banderas herself alluded to that just ahead of their wedding in a 2009 joint interview with The New York Times. "We call this round four, because we got together, we broke up, we got back together, we broke up," she explained. Time will tell if the two ever attempt round five, but something ("something" being Banderas' X post about wishing she'd gotten divorced before she'd even married Sansone) tells us that's unlikely. Some marriages just aren't made to last. 

Unfortunately, Julie Banderas' comment about her divorce being "agonizing" wasn't a throwaway remark, and things did become incredibly messy. Case in point: a few days after she announced their divorce, the Daily Mail revealed that she'd called the cops the previous December after Andrew Sansone allegedly threatened her. 

According to the outlet, Sansone had made mashed potatoes for their kids, and Banderas kept tasting the dish while it was being prepared. In the police report obtained by the Daily Mail, Banderas claimed that Sansone had retaliated by pointing a steak knife at her neck. Though Banderas didn't call the cops right away, she did so a few days later. In addition to Sansone being arrested, the Fox star asked for a restraining order against him, which was granted. 

Several months after his arrest, the Daily Mail reported that a judge found Sansone not guilty. Sansone maintained that he had been joking at the time — though as Banderas' lawyers pointed out, the joke itself was incredibly problematic, especially between two people going through a divorce. Even so, Sansone's lawyers claimed Banderas had warned him that she could use her position to damage his reputation, and the judge believed that meant her own credibility was in question. It's not clear if Banderas' restraining order against her ex is still in place, but one thing's for sure: this divorce was definitely for the best. 

Onto another sad detail about Julie Banderas, some may recall that back in 2014, she made a heartbreaking admission on X. Speaking about a photo which seems to have been deleted since, Banderas wrote in part, "I shot this before my weight loss post baby hence not loving myself here." We have no doubts that comments from a (never named) colleague would only have hurt more, in light of her own struggles. The comments, you ask? As she recounted of the unnamed colleague in a 2022 episode of "Gutfeld!," "He wouldn't marry a fat girl, I'm not kidding, this actually came out of the mouth of a man to me, because he wouldn't want to have fat children" (via HuffPost). "There are a lot of idiots out there," she added — and she wasn't wrong. 

In the time since her divorce, Banderas has lost weight, and she's even spoken about it from time to time. Notably, she's made it clear she won't be one of the stars admitting to taking Ozempic or anything of the like, and shut down an X follower who asked if she'd taken Zepbound in 2024. "No. Intense workouts and exercising like a field for two years 5 days a week," she said, adding that she'd also upped her protein and cut down on how much alcohol she consumed. Banderas has also said on Instagram that she does daily HIIT workouts. "I still have many goals to reach but I've never been happier," she wrote. 

Whatever her weight, it's clear to see that even in the wake of the heartaches she's endured over the years, Banderas is living her best life, and we're happy for her.