Chelsea Lovell is being interviewed in a Hertel Avenue coffee shop when a proud father comes over to show her a cellphone photo of his daughter dancing with the WIVB-TV (Channel 4) personality’s dance team for the Buffalo Bandits.
Lovell remembers his daughter, who performed with the Bandettes at a game in KeyBank Center with a “Danceability” group of special needs performers.
“That is your daughter?” she enthusiastically responds to the father. “She was absolutely amazing.”
About 15 minutes later as Lovell is about to leave, she is stopped by a man who tells her that his friends have appeared on her 3 p.m. weekday lifestyles program, “Daytime Buffalo.”
In the short nine months since moving here, Chelsea Lovell has immersed herself in Buffalo through her work on WIBV-TV, as a dancer with the Buffalo Bandettes and in her community service initiative as Miss Buffalo for the Miss America competition.
The two interactions illustrate how quickly the 25-year-old Lovell has immersed herself in Buffalo since arriving here from WETM in Elmira nine months ago. There is no dancing around it, Lovell has had the quickest impact of any TV personality here since Kate Welshofer arrived at WGRZ-TV (Channel 2) five years ago.
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“Chelsea’s dynamic personality and high-energy delivery jumped off the screen early on,” said Channel 4 General Manager Joe Abouzeid. “She has also embraced what’s great about Buffalo and has quickly made herself a part of our community.”
The native of Jamaica, Queens, is a triple threat hosting “Daytime Buffalo,” dancing at Bandits lacrosse games and being named Miss Buffalo last November.
Her large personality shines through the TV screen as brightly as the expression on her face that earned her the title of “Best Smile” during her middle-school days before studying ballet and classical and modern dance at LaGuardia High School, the school depicted in the movie and TV series “Fame.”
She has had a lot to smile about lately. But that wasn’t always the case growing up. More about that later.
Her road to Western New York was a circuitous one.
She graduated from the University of Miami in 2020 during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic with a major in broadcast journalism and minors in dance and public relations.
“One day we were on spring break and the next we weren’t going back to school,” she recalled.
She sent her résumé, which included working as an intern at a Miami station, to 100 TV stations and landed at WETM, the Nexstar station in Elmira that was the only one that got back to her.
“I said, ‘you know what, you have to pay your dues somewhere, right? ”’ she said. “At least I lived close enough to the (New York) city.”
Chelsea Lovell says she is proud to share stories of her new hometown as host of "Daytime Buffalo."
After two years at WETM, she was hired by Nexstar’s WIVB as the station’s morning traffic anchor and reporter. She impressed quickly and was named host of Channel 4’s new lifestyle program.
“I’ve always been a big personality, I’ve always had a lot of friends, I’ve always been a very bubbly person, very much a people person I would say,” said Lovell. “I’ve always had a passion for lifestyle. I like to share good news. I like to make people happy. So ‘Daytime Buffalo’ helps make me extremely happy and extremely proud sharing the people, places and businesses and so much goodness that is happening in Western New York highlighting the city I really think is such a special place.”
Samantha Bentz, one of the “Daytime Buffalo” producers, is one of Lovell’s biggest cheerleaders.
“Chelsea has a very genuine personality, which, I think, can be hard to find in an industry where ego tends to overshadow authenticity,” wrote Bentz. “Her kindness isn’t conjured up for appearances’ sake, and I believe that’s why guests, viewers and friends respond so well to her energy.”
“I have worked with a lot of talented journalists in my career and what struck me about Chelsea is her ease in speaking to anyone about anything,” wrote C.W. Vance, “Daytime Buffalo” executive producer. “Chelsea is one of the most talented interviewers I have ever worked with. Her cool, calm and friendly demeanor immediately puts guests at ease while her natural charm wins over any and all people she comes into contact with.”
That includes the Bandettes, who she joined because she missed dancing in Elmira and thought it would be another way to immerse herself in the community.
“I love my teammates, I love my coach,” said Lovell. “The energy in Banditland is unbelievable. We have amazing fans.”
That returned her to her interaction with the proud father whose daughter performed at KeyBank Center with “Danceability.”
“They were so amazing. It was a beautiful thing. It was so magical. When I tell you Banditland is so great, they gave those girls a standing ovation, which was so touching.”
Dance also was Lovell’s talent in the Miss Buffalo competition, which she entered after being named Miss Finger Lakes in 2022 when she was in Elmira. She competes for New York State in June.
“I am a very proud New Yorker,” said Lovell. “I always say I’m proud to move to Buffalo because it made me even prouder of New York State. I’m very much a New York City girl and I love it, but I’ve experienced the greatness of the rest of New York and I adore New York. Being Miss New York has always been a dream of mine.”
Her community service initiative for the Miss America competition is Resilient Warriors: Awareness and Aid for those impacted by domestic violence. She has partnered with Family Justice Center, Buffalo City Mission and Catholic Charities of WNY.
“They all do great work within this community,” said Lovell.
She visits shelters and has a dance class for one of the women’s and children’s shelters at City Mission.
The community initiative she chose is personal because domestic violence was part of her childhood experience, she said.
“I had a difficult upbringing,” she explained, holding back tears. “When I grew up with my mom and my stepfather, there were instances of domestic violence. We ended up living in domestic violence shelters at one point. Me and my mom and brother and sister all in one room, a trundle bed, one dresser between the four of us.”
She believes that lasted a couple of months when she was about 10.
“That’s why I took that community service initiative because I knew what these women and children are going through and how I can support them and things that they need and things that people don’t realize.”
She was raised by her grandmother, Patricia Glover, who she believes helped her get to where she is today. "I give my grandma a lot of credit. I think in a lot of ways she saved me and put me on a different path in life. I definitely wouldn’t be who I am or where I am without her.”
Her career success serves as an example to other people trying to overcome difficult circumstances.
“I want people going through what they are going through to know you can still get an education, still make a goal for yourself for a career and still go after that career. Your path doesn’t have to define you and it doesn’t have to stop you.”
Then she explains her tears.
“When I talk about it, it just happens, but I am past it,” said Lovell.
Her future seems unlimited. You could quickly see her leave for bigger horizons after her Channel 4 contract expires. She isn’t ready to think about that.
“I’ve truly made Buffalo my home,” she said. “I love the people. That’s what made me fall in love with this place, even through the hardest winter I’ve ever experienced in my life. I don’t really know what’s in my future but right now I am very happy.”
Lovell flashed her “best smile” as she finished the sentence.
