For someone who has spent a majority of her life on our television screens
talking to all sorts of interesting people, it took Meredith Vieira a long time before
she finally felt comfortable speaking in front of such a large audience. She
admitted on the podcast "Really Famous with Kara Mayer Robinson":
"It's funny that I'm a very shy person, believe it or not."
"People who knew me as a kid would never have thought that I'd end up in the field that I'm in."
Growing up, Vieira was an extremely shy child. Even after entering the television industry,
she was writing news stories that focused on other people,
so the attention was never on herself. Yet, when she began interviewing, she started speaking
up more and asking the difficult questions that audiences everywhere wanted to hear.
"It almost became therapeutic, in the sense that it got me out of my shell."
Throughout her career in news, she loved telling other people's stories from safely behind the
scenes. And then "The View" happened, and as the first moderator of the daily show,
Vieira was able to express herself and her opinions,
opening herself up to audiences in a way she had never done before.
Breaking news happens at all hours of the day,
but it's the early hours that Meredith Vieira isn't ever excited about.
"I'm not a morning person. I'm just not a morning person."
In fact, this was the reason she eventually left her hosting position at the "Today"
show after four years of waking up to an early alarm clock. Vieira was
so exhausted each day that she decided the best solution was to search for a
job with later hours — even though the "Today" show paycheck wasn't so bad.
"I felt so torn about it and really tired. And I realized,
if I signed up again, I'd be signing up for the paycheck."
"I didn't want to do that."
Even so, Vieira has still appeared every so often as a guest host on the national morning show.
When the COVID-19 pandemic halted production everywhere,
Meredith Vieira wanted to keep her game show "25 Words or Less" on the air. In order to do so,
she needed to find a place where she could safely film, so she searched for a spot in
her basement. Vieira explained in a behind-the-scenes video that the room
where she decided to host the game show for the time being seemed to be the perfect fit.
"They came and checked out our basement last season,
and they walked around. I didn't know if it would work, and they said, 'This is gonna work great.'"
Her technical director set up monitors on top of her pool table, and the hair and makeup department
used the high-top tables to get Vieira glammed and ready to go. Her storage room also turned
into a wardrobe department, where she was able to try on outfits for each episode.
Though Vieira has admitted that she missed filming the season in front of a live studio audience,
there's been something special about having a television set in her basement:
She was able to spend a lot more time with her spouse.
Though Meredith Vieira has been considered one of the most recognized
television personalities of our time, she admitted during a graduation speech for
Boston University that it wasn't the career path she expected to follow.
"I never intended to become a broadcaster. It wasn't even on my radar screen."
While attending Tufts University, Vieira studied English, but had no clue what
kind of work she eventually wanted to do. For fun, she decided to enroll in a radio
reporting class during her final semester. It was then that she began to stand out.
One day, a producer from CBS News decided to stop by and see what the local students were
up to. As soon as he heard Vieira's voiceover project, he told her she had a bright future
in broadcast journalism and insisted she intern for him. Vieira explained:
"For whatever reason, mostly because no one had
ever told me something like that before, I said, 'Yeah, okay.'"
"I took that first step, albeit blindly, and it put me on the path to where I am today."
The success of the daytime talk show "The View" would be nothing without Meredith Vieira. As the
original moderator of the show, she was able to speak her mind in a way she never could while
working in journalism. But Vieira didn't even want to audition for the show in the first place.
"I auditioned because Richard, my husband, suggested I do it. I wasn't going to."
At that time in her life, Vieira had been searching for a job on television that
didn't require her to travel. She had three small children at home and wanted to spend as much time
with them as she could. After a pep talk from her husband, Vieira decided that auditioning
for "The View" might not be a bad idea. Though she doubted she would be able to secure the job,
she thought the experience might eventually lead to something else.
After her audition in a hotel room, Vieira told her husband something she never expected to say.
"I came home that night and said, 'I can't believe this. I actually had a great time.'"
Addicted to The Bachelor Meredith Vieira may have a busy schedule,
but she always makes time to catch the newest episodes of "The Bachelor."
"I am addicted."
Throughout the time that "The Meredith Vieira Show" was on the air,
she interviewed various stars who talked about their experience on "The Bachelor,"
and often dished with other celebrity guests about how much she loved the show.
"I love the kissing, the crying, the collapsing into a heap. I cannot get enough of that."
If there's one thing Meredith Vieira doesn't enjoy doing after a busy day,
it's cooking a meal in her own kitchen. However, she never thought she was bad at
it until her own children called her out about it on national television.
"Now, I get a little angry. I get a little angry, because I don't actually think I'm that bad."
Yet, this exchange inspired some of Vieira's content moving forward. Shortly after receiving
her own talk show, she introduced a new segment called "My Mom Can't Cook!" where she,
along with a celebrity chef, taught women how to make tasty meals.
During many episodes, this special segment turned into a cooking lesson for Vieira, too.
"I don't like to cook, but I always thought I was a good cook. But,
apparently, one of my kids doesn't agree."
Throughout the two-season run of "The Meredith Vieira Show," Vieira sat down
and interviewed all sorts of incredible guests. During one specific episode in 2015,
the journalist was joined by none other than famed rapper Flo Rida,
who taught her a whole lot about the world of rap music. In addition to his interview,
he explained exactly what went into making one of his music videos – from the dance moves, to the
meaning of his lyrics, to all the props he uses — and he even got Vieira involved in recreating one.
Vieira then surprised viewers everywhere when she accompanied Flo Rida in shooting a second
music video for his hit song "Going Down For Real." In it, the journalist wears gold chains,
chugs champagne, and throws around dollar bills from the back of a personal watercraft.
"I could get very used to this.
“You’re professional.” “I like this."
When Meredith Vieira signed up to host her very own talk show,
she wanted to put as much of herself into it as possible — in fact,
she hoped to shoot it in her living room. But there was one thing standing in her way.
"My husband nixed that immediately.”
“I don’t blame him.”
“That is not gonna happen."
To make it still feel like she was working from home,
"The Meredith Vieira Show" crew put the perfect plan into action.
"So what they did is they made
a set that looks almost exactly like our family room. And I brought in some of my furniture."
The chair that the journalist is seated in, for example, is one that is straight out of
her living room, although she has admitted that it isn't in the best shape thanks to her pets.
Reporting the evening news may be where Meredith Vieira got her start in television,
but she has no plans on returning to it. She told the Los Angeles Times in 2019:
"I never say never, but I'm not looking for it. Right now,
I don't want to be part of that. I find the times right now very difficult and depressing."
Though hosting game shows may seem like the exact opposite occupation of reporting on the news,
Vieira credits her experience in broadcast journalism for making her a successful host
of shows like "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" and "25 Words or Less." She explained:
"I thought what made me an effective host was the fact that I was a journalist — I
knew how to draw contestants out. I knew how to relax them. I knew how to ask them
questions. I knew how to listen. And all those things are important even in a show like that."
Vieira told Kara Mayer Robinson that she's very
proud of the ability to host so many different types of shows.
"The fact that I can do talk, and I can do journalism, and I can do
reporting, and I can do game shows has been a blessing for me."