- - Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos and Michael Strahan Celebrate 50 Years of “GMA”: 'We’re Family' (Exclusive)

Colleen KratofilNovember 4, 2025 at 12:18 AM

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Michael Strahan, Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos on 'Good Morning America' -

Good Morning America celebrated its 50th anniversary on Monday, Nov. 3

PEOPLE caught up with co-anchors, Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos and Michael Strahan to reflect on their tenure at the program

GMA airs weekdays at 7 a.m. ET on ABC

On Nov. 3 Good Morning America marked a significant milestone — the 50th anniversary of the ABC morning news program’s very first broadcast.

The network launched GMA with actors David Hartman and Nancy Dussault at the helm to compete with NBC’s thriving Today show in the ratings. By the end of the ’80s, with Joan Lunden and Charles Gibson as coanchors, GMA had surged in the ratings. In 1999 the show gained nearly 1 million more viewers with the addition of Diane Sawyer, who brought a hard-news approach to the program.

Eventually Robin Roberts was elevated from newsreader to coanchor in 2005. “If anyone listened closely, they could hear my knees knocking underneath the desk because [Sawyer and Gibson] are the Mount Rushmore of TV journalists,” Roberts tells PEOPLE exclusively of joining their dream team. But she is quick to add that they were “extremely welcoming.”

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Michael Strahan, Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos in 2018

It’s the same courtesy that Roberts, who has been at the desk with George Stephanopoulos since 2009 and Michael Strahan since 2016, extends to all who join the program. “We’re family,” says Stephanopoulos. Adds Strahan, the former NFL player who left Live! With Kelly and Michael to join GMA in 2016: “I couldn’t ask for better teammates.”

Stephanopoulos first appeared on GMA when he was Bill Clinton's top advisor during the 1992 presidential campaign. He joined ABC as an analyst in 1997, but says he had no desire to become an anchor of the morning news program.

"When they first came to me with the idea that I should join Robin as a co-anchor, I said, 'Are you kidding? That's not what I do.' And I said, 'No.' We were living in D.C. at the time and I just didn't think it was the right fit for me," Stephanopoulos says. "But thankfully the president of ABC News at the time, David Westin persisted and he was very persuasive and he asked me a second time, I demurred the second time, but the third time he made a heartfelt and very persuasive pitch and I said yes. And it was one of the best professional decisions I ever made."

Similarly, Strahan also didn't see himself in the anchor chair. "When they offered it to me, I said, 'No, I don't do news. What are you talking about?' I pretty much realized I was saying no more out of fear instead of at least giving it a shot. So I'm so happy that I did. But yeah, when I first got the call, I literally thought they had the wrong person."

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Michael Strahan, Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos in 2019

Throughout the show's entire run, there's been very little changeover at the anchor desk, and Roberts attributes that to the trio's bond. "I don't think people realize, first of all, how much fun that we have together," she shares.

Additionally, they "don't take lightly" the fact that they get to say good morning to America. "It is a privilege," Roberts says. "There's an intimacy to morning television as opposed to other news programs. People are getting dressed and starting their day, and they're learning things that are happening, and they feel like we're there to give them a hug or hold their hand and give them the proper information."

Stephanopoulos has the same perspective: "It's just an incredible privilege to have the chance every morning to get up and greet people and give them the news of the day that's going to help them get through their lives and also bring them lots of other information and entertainment that round out their lives and maybe put a smile on their face."

"I think it's fun. I love it. I love the atmosphere. I think that's why there's not a lot of turnover because there's a great appreciation for having the opportunity to do it," says Strahan.

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Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos and Michael Strahan in 2015

"People often use the phrase ‘work family,’ and they’re very flippant when they say it," Roberts explains. "It’s genuine with us. We spend more time sometimes with each other than we do with our actual families."

For Stephanopoulos, he says their bond is so close, they've picked up on one another's moods, and their likes and dislikes. "I can't tell you how many times a week we end up saying just as we're coming back on the air, 'You don't want to know what we were talking about during the commercial.' It's an easy relationship, a trusting relationship."

Good Morning America airs weekdays at 7 a.m. ET on ABC.

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