Good Morning America’s megastar hosts all turned down the chance to host the troubled GMA3 slot, amid ABC fears the slot is ‘toxic’.
According to an ABC insider speaking to DailyMail.com, Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, and Michael Strahan are looking for a salary increase that exceeds the current offer on the table.
The popular trio are also said to worry that the affair involving former hosts TJ Holmes and Amy Robach has badly tainted the image of GMA3.
In 2022, DailyMail.com exposed the secret extramarital relationship between Robach and Holmes, which led to their removal and suspension. Although the couple has gone public with their romance since then, the scandal has tarnished Good Morning America’s family-friendly image.
Even after more than two years have passed, the fallout from the scandal continues to linger, resulting in the recent layoffs at GMA3 and making it challenging to attract new talent to the show.
Stephanopoulos, Roberts and Strahan are said to be further hesitant to pick up as what they see as ‘slack’ not caused by their actions.
Each of Good Morning America’s mainstay anchors were offered the chance to host the show’s embattled third hour – but all three said no, said a source close to the situation. Pictured, hosts Michael Strahan, Robin Roberts, and George Stephanopoulos on-set
Previously, the hour was hosted by T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach, who were put on leave and the fired in 2022 after DailyMail.com exposed their affair
‘Michael, Robin, and George were all asked to take over the third hour – they said no,’ the high-level insider revealed.
‘After TJ and Amy, it’s a toxic hour they want nothing part of.
‘They have just fired all the staff of GMA3, including its executive producer.
‘They are going to want a lot more money to do any extra work.’
The source added how ‘it’s not just Robin and George being asked to do more work [after the recent layoffs] – it’s the entire ABC team.’
Good Morning America’s dramas come a day after DailyMail.com exclusively revealed Kelly Clarkson is set to take over from Hoda Kotb on NBC rival Today.
In total, 200 staffers – including GMA3 executive producer Catherine McKenzie – were provided pink slips as part of the consolidation, which happened on March 5.
Both of GMA3’s current anchors, DeMarco Morgan and Eva Pilgrim, were spared, causing speculation about the show’s fate to swirl.
At a town hall less than two weeks later, ABC News boss Almin Karamehmedovic confirmed the show – in its current state – was staying as it is.
Today, it is hosted by DeMarco Morgan and Eva Pilgrim, after being ‘gutted’ by layoffs
It lost its executive producer, Catherine McKenzie, the source pointed out – describing how staffers are being asked to pick up the slack
ABC News boss Almin Karamehmedovic (pictured) has asserted GMA3 – after years of lineup and name changes – is here to stay, despite doing away with its staff
A second source described to DailyMail.com how the boss ‘laid out his plans for the future’ during the meeting, announcing that ABC news would be split into three divisions – Live and Breaking News, Signature Shows, and Longform Storytelling.
‘The mood is hopeful, this is a fresh start,’ the source said, weeks after the 200-strong round of layoffs caused tears to flow though ABC’s Manhattan offices wholesale.
Having recently relocated from ABC’s longtime studio on the Upper West Side to Disney’s new digs downtown, staffers in the Big Apple represented the ‘vast majority’ of the firings, those familiar with the matter have said.
At the time, Layoffs were seen at NBC News’ office at 30 Rock as well, and months before at CNN.
‘It’s all about doing more with less,’ one ABC staffer told Status last month, as ABC and the other stations continue to push their respective ventures and strategies. ‘That’s what this is.’
But, according to our source, neither Roberts, Stephanopoulos, nor Strahan are willing to play ball, seemingly realizing their respective star-power.
Pictured, the November 2022 photos that saw hosts Holmes and Robach’s ousted, after news of their cozy upstate getaway spread
Holmes and Robach are seen here on the set with Stephanopoulos, who, like his cohosts, mans the first two hours of GMA
Aside from the layoffs in March, ABC News previously shed 40 employees in October.
In the most recent round, staffers were provided severance that included normal pay for 60 days as well as an additional week per year served.
Sources told Status at the time of ‘some frustration’ with those packages, due to staffers being given ‘two weeks per year served’ in previous firings.
The strategy has ultimately has left GMA3’s producing to the regular ‘GMA’ team, a little more than six years after the program’s rollout.
