Where Is ‘To Catch a Predator’ Host Chris Hansen Today?
Robert Pattison’s newest role has him portraying the host of the controversial mid-2000s series To Catch a Predator.
Primetime stars Pattison as journalist Chris Hansen, the Dateline correspondent who teamed up with internet watchdogs to set up sting operations targeting men who were attempting to meet up with minors for sex. The trailer, which was released on May 27, appears to show Hansen confronting a character played by The Righteous Gemstones’ star Skyler Gisondo. The movie is scheduled for release in September 2026.
‘To Catch a Predator’ was popular, but controversial
To Catch a Predator aired on NBC from 2004 to 2007. While the show was popular with viewers, it was not without its critics, who expressed reservations about the methods used to entrap the predators. The network eventually canceled the show following the suicide of Bill Conradt, who was targeted in a To Catch a Predator sting and killed himself as police and a Dateline camera crew entered his Texas home. Advertisers had also reportedly grown skittish about the program.
Despite the controversy, Hansen has defended To Catch a Predator.
“I think we raised awareness and created a dialogue that didn’t exist before,” he told Time in 2015. “We created compelling television, and I think we exposed a lot of bad people who were preying on children. So if the old-guard journalists have a problem with that, then so be it.”
“At the end of the day, we had proved our point,” he added.
Chris Hansen continues to focus on catching predators
AfterTo Catch a Predator ended, Hansen continued to host spinoff shows for NBC with a similar concept, including To Catch a Con Man and To Catch an I.D. Thief. He left the network in 2013 and hosted a series for ID, Killer Instinct With Chris Hansen as well as the syndicated series Crime Watch Daily.
Currently, Hansen host the true crime series Takedown on his own streaming service, TruBlu. Like To Catch a Predator, it involves Hansen targeting would-be sex criminals. He’s also started a podcast, Predators I’ve Caught. TruBlu also released the 2025 documentary Dangerous Games: Investigating Roblox. And Hansen continues to be an active part of the true crime community. On May 30, he’ll host the CLUE Awards, which “honor excellence and responsible storytelling across TV, film, podcasts, and publishing,” at 2026 CrimeCon in Las Vegas.
Following his departure from NBC, Hansen has also faced a number of personal challenges. In 2018, he was busted for writing bad checks; those charges were later dropped. The same year, his wife of 30 years filed for divorce. In 2019, he was evicted from his New York City apartment for failing to pay rent. He married his second wife in 2021.
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