How Shreveport native Faith Jenkins went from Miss Louisiana to a true crime tv show host

Meredith G. White
Shreveport Times

Faith Jenkins is best known for her role on Judge Faith Jenkins and Divorce Court, but did you know she was a former Miss Louisiana and graduated from C.E. Byrd High School in Shreveport?

Jenkins was born and raised in Shreveport and fell into pageantry when she passed by a flyer for Lousiana Tech's annual pageant with the winner getting a year of free tuition, books and housing. That was enough incentive to give it a shot. She went on to become the school's first Black student to win. She continued to compete and went on to win Shreveport's Miss Louisiana Sportsmans Paradise, Miss Louisiana and was the first runner-up in the Miss America pageant.

Faith Jenkins moved on to being a judge on public television with shows like Judge Faith before landing roles hosting true crime shows.

"I went from growing up in Shreveport, graduating from Louisiana Tech then graduating from Southern University to winning Miss Louisiana after my first year of law school," explained Jenkins. "I think that helped because I traveled a lot that year and I just got so much exposure during that time period, meeting different people, traveling to different events and speaking in front of all kinds of organizations. And I think it's what really gave me the courage to move and take that first job in New York."

That first job was at Sidley Austin where she spent five years as a litigator before moving on to become an Assistant District Attorney prosecuting criminals at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. She was then approached by television executives to appear as a legal commentator on various cable news networks like Fox News, CNN, MSNBC and more.

"That's essentially what launched my tv career because someone from the head of a production company in L.A. would see me on tv one night on MSNBC and then the next night with Bill O'Reilly on Fox News and said I could go in front of these two starkly different audiences and be able to carry my weight," Jenkins said. "And that's when I was approached about doing a court show on tv."

In 2014, her show Judge Faith hit daytime tv and then in 2015 she added the true crime documentary series Justice By Any Means and from 2020 - 2022 she was the presiding judge on Divorce Court. Now, she hosts Oxygen's new show Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins. The second season is about to premier.

Now, Faith Jenkins hosts Oxygen's hit show "Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins" and its second season premiers on the network Sunday, May 28, 2023.

In the show, Jenkins breaks down all the gripping details of relationships gone deadly while highlighting the warning signs that were overlooked. Some stories include a single mother who is murdered in front of her two children by one of her many admirers, a young woman whose brutal death by a loved one is solved after a surprise appearance on national tv and more.

"What I like about the show is it's also a tool that people can use and watch and learn about decisions that people make and different aspects of relationships and what to look out for," Jenkins explained. "I do think it can be one of those shows like Snapped that runs for 15 seasons because there is just so much content out there and so many cases that we can cover."

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Season two of Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins premiers Sunday, May 28 at 7 p.m. Eastern / Pacific Time or you can watch episodes in the Oxygen app by entering your cable, digital or satellite tv subscription information. You can also stream it was Sling TV, Hulu Live TV or a YouTube TV subscription.

Meredith G. White is the arts and culture reporter for the Shreveport Times. You can find her on Facebook as Meredith G. White, on Instagram and Twitter as @meredithgwhite, and email her at mgwhite@gannett.com.