Has Tessa Barrera found her next Houston media home?
Just months after leaving KPRC 2’s Houston Life, the former co-host appears to be returning to her radio roots.
After recently filling in on the station, Barrera is now listed as an on-air personality on SUNNY 99.1’s official website. The station’s weekday schedule has her hosting afternoons from 3 to 7 p.m.
iHeartMedia Region President Paul Lambert also announced the personnel move in a LinkedIn post.
“It’s not every day that a personnel change is made on one of America’s largest radio stations, which makes it really exciting when one takes place,” Lambert wrote. “Tessa Barrera will be in the passenger seat as Houstonians head home each afternoon.”
A promotional graphic shared with the post reads, “Tessa Barrera is back on the radio!” and advertises the new lineup.
On Thursday, Barrera also uploaded a blog titled, TESSA’S TINGS ~ Things I’m Loving & Things I’m Still Laughing At to the station’s website.
“Hey Sunny fam, I wanted to tell you all how appreciative I am for the warm welcome,” Barrera wrote. “My history with iHeart goes waaaaay back and I’m just glad they trust me enough to put me into the afternoon ears of Houstonians.”
It’s unclear when Barrera officially began the role, and iHeartMedia has not publicly announced her addition to the lineup. Chron has reached out to Barrera, iHeartMedia and SUNNY 99.1 for comment.
Barrera left Houston Life at the end of March after three years alongside Derrick Shore. At the time, she told Chron her departure came as her contract expired March 31. Negotiations with station leadership fell short of the raise she was seeking, leading her to move on.
“It sucks, but it was about money, and that’s okay,” she said.
The move would mark a return to the medium where Barrera first built a following in Houston. Before joining television, the Corpus Christi native was a longtime personality on The Rod Ryan Show on 94.5 The Buzz, an iHeartMedia station. She balanced both radio and Houston Life for more than a year before leaving the morning show in December 2024 to focus on television full-time.
Since departing KPRC 2, Barrera has remained active in Houston media. She has guest co-hosted Houston Public Media’s Hello Houston following former KPRC 2 chief meteorologist Frank Billingsley’s retirement from the program in April, filled in on SUNNY 99.1 after nationwide iHeartMedia layoffs eliminated Amanda Flores’ shift in June, and continued releasing episodes of her podcast, Tess Talks 2.0.
Before moving to Houston television, Barrera worked as a news anchor and executive producer at KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles. Earlier in her career, she was a sports reporter and anchor at KRIS 6 and KZTV Action 10 News in Corpus Christi. She also competed on Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge in 2014.
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This article originally published at Former ‘Houston Life’ co-host Tessa Barrera makes return to Houston radio.