COVER STORY
Recently celebrating her one-year
anniversary at WWL-TV Channel 4
Morning News, April Dupre is quickly
becoming a familiar face here in New
Orleans. As the a.m. traffic reporter and host of a
weekly health and fitness segment, in addition to
managing her own fitness business, April is a nonstop
dynamo making an impact on those who work with
her and those who work out with her.
Born and raised in the Crescent City, April never had to leave
home to embark on her twin career paths as so many others
had done before her. She stayed here, received her education
and work experience locally and now it’s paying off for her in
multiple ways.
“I absolutely love what I do,” April said, discussing her
assignments at Channel 4. “The morning team and WWL, in
general, all welcomed me with open arms and they’ve been very
supportive. It’s really been a great experience so far.”
April especially enjoys the weekly, three- to four-minute
By Dean M. Shapiro
“Workout Wednesday” segments she does at 8:45 a.m. every
Wednesday with world-renowned fitness guru and native New
Orleanian, Mackie Shilstone. “I have admired him my entire
life,” she said. “Working with him over this past year has been
pretty amazing. I actually get to learn so much more from him
and we’ve become really good friends.”
Describing the segment, April explained, “It’s basically fitness
and nutrition tips that people can use and Mackie leads it. I am
just the person who’s interviewing him. We have to pack a lot
of information into a very short amount of time but we do it so
well.”
In landing the Wednesday morning fitness slot with Shilstone,
April was bringing her own impressive qualifications and
experience to the table. Her background in athletics and other
physical and cultural activities dates back to early childhood,
with much encouragement from her parents.
“I was an only child, growing up in Gentilly,” she said. My
parents were high school sweethearts; married for over 30 years.
My mom and dad did a really good job at making an effort to
expose me to all things – mostly creative things – when I was
very young.
“I started dancing when I was two and I played every sport
imaginable in elementary school,” she recounted. “I studied
PHOTO BY APRIL DUPRE
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