E:60 Presents: “Morganna, The Kissing Bandit” — a special half-hour film from the award-winning, prime-time newsmagazine about one of the sports world’s most intriguing characters — will air Friday, Sept. 26, at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Everyone knew her name. For three decades — long before reality television churned out celebrities or social media taught us the meaning of ‘going viral’ — a voluptuous blond known simply as “Morganna,” ran through our national conscience. It started with a light-hearted moment in the summer of 1969 — Morganna jumping from the stands, and sprinting across the field to kiss Cincinnati Reds star Pete Rose. And it grew into the legend of the “Kissing Bandit,” the woman who would appear unannounced at major sporting events to steal a peck from superstars such as Nolan Ryan, George Brett, Don Mattingly, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Frank Layden, Charles Barkley, and dozens more. Morganna kissed them all. Talk shows, games shows, Hollywood cameos…Morganna showed up in all of them. And then, without a word of explanation, she was gone – until now. After 15 years of silence Morganna sits down with E:60′s Wright Thompson for what she says will be her last interview. She talks about the troubled childhood that led her to work as a stripper, what drove her to become the Kissing Bandit, and why after becoming famous, she gave it all up.
E:60’s ninth season continues the program’s reputation of presenting the biggest names and the best stories in sports with innovative long-form storytelling, enterprise reporting and production technique.