Robin Roberts has been spending time with her soon-to-be co-anchor George Stephanopoulos over the past week or so — much of the time on Google. “Did you know he used to wrestle?,” Roberts asks during a conversation with TVNewser not long after it was announced that Stephanopoulos had been named her co-anchor on “Good Morning America.”
Roberts, who’s been with the GMA for seven years — 4-and-a-half as co-anchor — had just come from a staff meeting announcing the changes which she describes as “bittersweet.”
“I’m grateful for what [Diane Sawyer] has taught me,” says Roberts, adding. “She’s going to take my training wheels off tomorrow.”
Beginning Monday, Stephanopoulos and Juju Chang will be added to the front-four of the perennial #2 morning broadcast.
As for her new on-air partner, Roberts says “we complement each other very well. We are a complete package.”
Asked whether she’s concerned that Stephanopoulos’ deep DC roots would leave her out of the mix when it comes to hard-hitting interviews, she threw one back at us: “Who from ABC News was invited to the state dinner?” Roberts was.
“I’m not worried one bit,” says Roberts.
And the man in charge isn’t worried either. “We believe in supporting everyone fully,” says senior EP Jim Murphy, adding “Everyone will get their fair share.”
We know there is serious George. But can Stephanopoulos cut-it up when it’s called for? Murphy thinks so.
“This is not a challenge at all,” Murphy tells TVNewser. “George has focused on politics for a long time but he has an amazing range, he’s curious about a wide swath of issues and is fully engaged in any direction.”
But will new viewers engage with the new team? Time will tell.