Heidi Collins, former CNN Newsroom anchor who left the network in January, will sign on as the new co-anchor of the 5pm and 9pm news bulletins at Fox 9 Minneapolis in early October.

Following the announcement by Fox 9, Collins spoke with Amy Carlson Gustafson from TwinCities.com.

Q In January, did CNN let you go or how did that work with you leaving the station?

A "That's not even remotely close to the truth. I was offered a two-year extension on the contract I had already completed and we never came to terms. My contract with them was actually just complete in August. It was interesting how all that was written at the time — not at the fault of CNN. CNN said we were going our separate ways, but the way it was written in a lot of different places was that they chose not to renew my contract. No one ever called me for an interview, so I just decided whatever. Onward and upward."

Q CNN is a national cable network and now you're coming to a smaller, local TV market. Why?

A "First of all because of my home and getting back with the family. Quite frankly, I've always loved Minnesota. I talked about it on my show at least on a weekly basis. My regular viewers were very aware I was a native Minnesotan and a Vikings fan. It just was truly the very first opportunity I've ever had to come back, especially in this type of job situation. A main anchor position most certainly for Fox would be my No. 1 choice. And to have it be in Minnesota is a total knockout, a win-win for me and my entire family. On a professional level, there's a lot going on in Minnesota both politically and news-wise that I really want to be a part of. I'm lucky it's going to be with Fox. I know they had a great night on Saturday winning all those (regional) Emmys. They're really on a roll and I'm thrilled to be walking into such a successful station."

Q So what have you been up to since leaving CNN?

A "Mostly I've been taking care of my family. It was a real tough time for us. Services for my father-in-law were in May, early June — they went on for quite a while, it's a large family and we had a lot of people to see and gather. We then got in a car and traveled 6,000 miles out west and took the kids and did a little bit of healing in all the national parks."