At the age of 15 she auditioned for a kids' show on local station KPLR-TV, called Team 11, that was seeking young people between the ages of 13 and 23 who could also sing and dance and act, for an after-school television variety show. Recaño was chosen, and became one of four reporters on the show to produce news featurettes on subjects such as anorexia, depression, divorce, and the environment. She also hosted The Disney Afternoon, for which she won two Emmy Awards.
After high school, Recaño attended Loyola University of Chicago, from which she graduated magna cum laude, receiving a bachelor's degree in mass communications. Her early goal had been to be a physician like her father, and her initial major was in biology, but she eventually decided to return to journalism.
In 1996, she joined KPLR's News at Nine as a general assignment reporter. From 1998-2001, she was the news anchor for ZDTV, later renamed as TechTV News. After ZDTV, she worked as an anchor and reporter for KNTV, the NBC affiliate in San Francisco. In July 2002, she joined Inside Edition.
In 2004, she was named as a correspondent for the new television newsmagazine The Insider.
Recaño married in 2001 to a mortgage consultant. She currently lives in Los Angeles.
In February 2008, Recano was a celebrity guest model on the game show Deal or No Deal.