Robin Roberts has been a fixture on daytime television since 1995, when she began contributing
to ABC's "Good Morning America." Although she's been in the public eye for decades, there's much
that even her most devoted fans can learn by uncovering the untold truth of Robin Roberts.
Before she made the decision to pursue a career in broadcasting,
Robin Roberts envisioned herself becoming a professional tennis player. She told NPR,
"My first dream was to be Venus and Serena."
Roberts attended college on a tennis scholarship before switching to basketball.
But she soon realized she wasn't good enough to go pro, and since she didn't have the temperament
to become a coach, she decided on a different career path to stay in sports: broadcasting.
Following in the footsteps of her older sister Sally-Ann Roberts, who was already a television
journalist, Robin took a part-time job as a sports reporter. It paid off: in 1990,
she was hired by ESPN, initially anchoring the 2:30 a.m. edition of "SportsCenter."
Her talent on the air shone through, and it didn't take long before she ascended to co-anchoring the
"Sportscenter" primetime slot, becoming the first black woman to anchor "SportsCenter."
In 1996, Roberts' duties expanded to include hosting ABC's long-running
"Wide World of Sports," thus also making history as the first black woman to host
the venerable broadcast, which first hit the air in 1961. She told “The New York Times,”
"It's the jewel assignment. I look at 'SportsCenter' and
'Wide World' as the premier sports programs ever.
I like to be able to do both. How many people can say they hosted 'Wide World' and 'SportsCenter'?"
Though her dream of becoming a professional tennis player never came true, she didn't give up
her dream of making it to Wimbledon. And in 1993, she was able to tick that particular item off her
bucket list when she covered the famous tournament for ESPN. She told “Entertainment Weekly,”
"On that hot and steamy tennis court in Mississippi I would dream of being at Wimbledon.
Well you know what? I did get to Wimbledon. I didn't have a tennis racket in my hands,
I had an ESPN microphone. It still was every bit as gratifying."
"Reporting from Wimbledon, Robin Roberts, ESPN."
As she revealed to the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame,
when she finally did set foot on that hallowed ground, she actually wept.
"To me it was like, check. Wimbledon."
In 2007, Robin Roberts appeared on "Good Morning America" to deliver some devastating news to
viewers: She would be taking a break from the show to undergo treatment after being diagnosed
with breast cancer. She returned a few weeks later, and was eventually declared cancer free.
Five years later, though, in 2012, she took another break from the show after
revealing she had been diagnosed with leukemia, specifically
myelodisplastic syndrome. Roberts once again took a leave of absence from the show, this time to
receive a bone-marrow transplant. Her sister, broadcaster Sally-Ann Roberts, was the donor.
Roberts was sidelined for significantly longer than she was back in 2007,
off the air for nearly six months before returning to the show in February 2013.
"I have been waiting 174 days to say this. Good morning, America."
Undergoing two major health crises would be enough to send anyone into a serious depression spiral,
yet Robin Roberts said she emerged stronger and more actualized from the experience.
She told “Parade,”
"I have been mulling over how much more I have learned about myself through sorrow than
through joy. I'm a better, stronger, more complete person because of these trials and tribulations."
Roberts also revealed she's stopped over-scheduling herself
now that she's so much more aware of being present in the here and now.
"I don't want to plan. In a year's time I want to still be able to say to you, I am in the moment."
Still, it was a very difficult time for Roberts. During a visit to “The View,”
Roberts revealed that there were moments during the long treatment process that
she thought she might never be able to return to "Good Morning America."
"I didn't know if I could come back. Not that I wouldn't want to,
but I didn't know if I could — if it was something that was going to be possible."
In 2013, Robin Roberts took to Facebook to share a milestone,
a hundred days after receiving a life-saving bone marrow transplant. Sharing a message of gratitude,
Roberts thanked her doctors, her sister, her family and friends, and, quote, "my long time
girlfriend, Amber." With that casual mention, Roberts was officially out of the closet.
The following year, Roberts appeared on Ellen DeGeneres' daytime talk show,
telling the host — who had similarly come out two decades earlier — that she decided
to first get the go-ahead from her partner, Amber.
Pointing out that Amber doesn't enjoy being in the public eye, Roberts praised her girlfriend
for being her rock during her health crises. She told DeGeneres, she wasn't trying to make
any grand statement, she simply wanted to acknowledge her partner’s support.
"She's very, very supportive and she's been right there beside me
every step of the way [..] I said, 'I really want to say thank you.'"
Some of Robin Roberts' fans may be surprised to learn that she's long been a fan of country music.
In fact, the Mississippi native has been a serious country fan for her whole life, and even received
a standing ovation when she presented an award at the 2013 Country Music Awards.
As ABC News revealed, one of her first broadcasting jobs was at a country music station,
and Roberts singled out her all-time favorite country song:
"Sleeping Single in a Double Bed" by Barbara Mandrell. Roberts explained,
"I'm a huge Barbara Mandrell fan [...] title says it all."
Viewers first got a taste of Roberts' country music fandom when she began hosting the ABC
"All Access Nashville" primetime special. In them,
Roberts sits down with stars like Carrie Underwood, Loretta Lynn, and Lady A among others.
Since then, Roberts has helmed numerous country music specials for the network,
including multiple interviews with Dolly Parton, and she remains proud of her country music roots.
"WFPR 14 Country, hometown country friends since 1947,
Robin May here on a Saturday night playing the best in country music."
In addition to her role on ABC's "Good Morning America" and hosting occasional
primetime specials, Robin Roberts landed another gig on another network.
That network is Lifetime, which airs her "Robin Roberts Presents" series of movies.
According to “The Boston Herald,” Roberts signed a deal to be executive producer on some "fact-based
dramas" that had deep personal meaning to her, such as the Mahalia [muh-HAIL-ee-uh] Jackson
story, But her deal included a very special arrangement: Roberts would also produce
companion documentaries that would tell the actual stories behind the dramatized movies.
In January 2020, the first of these movies aired. "Stolen by My Mother:
The Kamiyah Mobley Story," is the true story about a young woman, played by Rayven Ferrell,
who makes the shocking discovery that the woman she had believed to be her mother,
played by Niecy Nash, had kidnapped her from a hospital maternity ward when she was a newborn.
Roberts told the Herald she covered the actual story extensively on "GMA."
"It was a story that really resonated with our audience, and I was just
so impressed with how Kamiyah was handling everything. And I'm glad that we're doing a
companion documentary, because you want to know how she's doing now."
It's no big revelation that broadcasters working in network television make huge salaries.
Yet Robin Roberts hit a particularly big milestone in 2013 when Radar Online
reported that she signed a $20 million-per-year contract to co-anchor "Good Morning America,"
a deal that would keep her behind the anchor desk for the next five years.
According to Radar Online, the network came to the conclusion that
Roberts was responsible for the show's ratings climb, with insiders claiming
"Robin could have demanded $25 million,
and ABC would have paid it to her. She is worth it, and deserves the hefty payday."
Furthermore, Radar Online reported that Roberts' lucrative new contract propelled her to the top
of the daytime television food chain, making her "the highest paid woman in morning news."
While viewers of "Good Morning America" may perceive Robin Roberts and George
Stephanopoulos to be affable, friendly co-anchors,
that hasn't always been the case. In August 2021, the two reportedly clashed behind the
scenes of the morning show over the manner in which ABC brass dealt with allegations of sexual
assault that had been leveled against "GMA" executive producer Michael Corn.
According to “The Daily Beast,” Kirstyn Crawford — then serving as a producer who
worked with Stephanopoulos — filed a lawsuit claiming that Corn had assaulted her in 2015.
Crawford's suit alleged that Stephanopoulos
had known about the alleged assault for years while continuing to work with Corn.
Roberts was reportedly furious when she found out. During a conference call with
"Good Morning America" staff, she reportedly said,
"If this happened to someone on my team, I would have burned the place down."
This was perceived to be directed at Stephanopoulos, who “The Daily Beast”
said was "livid." A network spokesperson, however,
denied reports of friction, declaring that, quote, "Robin and George are fine."
Back in 2012, George Stephanopoulos revealed to viewers on "Good Morning America" that he
was a practitioner of transcendental meditation. Several years later,
in 2020, Robin Roberts told “ET” that Stephanopoulos had turned her on to TM,
and she was likewise a believer in the benefits of meditation.
She said that the meditation
"[...] is a beautiful way [...] to be able to check in with yourself and center yourself
and it's a unique way of calming yourself and energizing yourself at the same time."
She also told “ET” that she wanted to explain what exactly meditation entails.
Rather than trying to quiet your mind, she said that the goal is
"[...] to recognize your thoughts, it's to gently push them out,
to focus on your mantra and to find a way to [have] quiet time."
While Robin Roberts has been a fixture on broadcast television for decades,
in 2021, she entered the world of streaming TV with the debut of her own solo show
"Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts." Streaming on Disney+,
the new talk show finds Roberts joined by famous women who join Roberts to discuss
the challenges and triumphs they have faced in their personal and professional lives.
Each episode is titled after its individual theme — like "Individuality"
and "Groundbreakers" — and features an array of guests. Among Roberts' interviewees for
the series were tennis legend Billie Jean King, country music singer Mickey Guyton,
fashion designer Betsey Johnson, percussionist Sheila E., and comedian Tig Notaro, among others.
"This is what I wanted. It's totally unscripted, it's not soundbite world."
"No."
"It's called Turning the tables."
Actor and musician Jussie Smollett made headlines in 2019
when he accused two men of attacking him and placing a noose around his neck.
Smollett was later arrested and charged with faking the attack, and while those
charges were eventually dropped, he was brought to trial on charges of falsifying police reports.
Days before his first arrest, however, Smollett sat down with Robin Roberts for a heavily hyped
"Good Morning America" interview. She came under heavy criticism from people
who felt she hadn't asked tough enough questions.
During an event hosted by “The Cut,” Roberts admitted that she had concerns about doing
the interview from the start, both because she was unsure about his truthfulness and because
her high profile in the LGBTQ+ community presented some complications. She said,
"I'm a black gay woman, he's a black gay man. He's saying that there's a hate crime,
so if I'm too hard, then my LGBT community is going to say,
'You don't believe a brother,' if I'm too light on him, it's like, 'Oh,
because you are in the community, you're giving him a pass.' It was a no-win situation for me."
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus,
even more List videos about your favorite celebs are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.