Elizabeth Vargas is one of the most well-known TV journalists in the world. For nearly 30 years, the
New Jersey native has worked as an investigative reporter for networks like A&E, Fox, and ABC.
Vargas joined ABC News' Good Morning America in 1996 and was soon promoted to the show's primetime
magazine correspondent. Then, in 2002, she began working as a co-anchor on 20/20 Downtown.
Over the course of her tenure at ABC News, Vargas worked with journalists like Charlie
Gibson and Diane Sawyer. However, her time at the network was not without rumors, and, in 2018,
The Hollywood Reporter announced that Vargas would be leaving ABC
altogether. Why did the news journalist decide to leave Good Morning America, and eventually ABC?
Was there really something else going on behind the scenes?
Two months into Vargas' tenure at Good Morning America, rumors surfaced that she would be taking
over Joan Lunden's position as the show's host, per Tulsa World. However, Vargas told the outlet,
"I was hired to do one job, that's it. No guarantees, no promises. If (ABC bosses)
have bigger things in store for me, that would be great. But it's not going to happen for a while."
In 1997, AP News reported that ABC had chosen Lisa McRee to replace Lunden as a co-host on
Good Morning America, though Vargas was a strong contender for the position. Later
reports from New York Metro stated that Vargas was forced to leave her stint at World News Now
at the request of her colleague, Charles Gibson. The outlet wrote that Gibson not
only demanded a pay raise and a longer contract with ABC but threatened that he would not work
at World News Now with Vargas there. In 2006, New York Magazine wrote of Gibson,
"He saw his opportunity and he took it, pushing aside both Sawyer and Elizabeth Vargas,
the pregnant incumbent who is going on maternity leave in August and fully expected to return."
In 2007, however, Vargas denied these claims, telling Oprah Winfrey that she was never outed
by Gibson. Instead, she stated that she left her position to focus on being a mother; at the time,
she was pregnant with her second child. In late 2017, word got out that in May 2018, Elizabeth
Vargas would be leaving ABC News for good. In a memo obtained by Page Six, Vargas wrote,
"I am incredibly lucky to work alongside the very best in the business: the producers,
editors, writers on this show, and the enormous team working every week to get
our show on the air. I am so very proud of the stories we have told together."
In April 2018, People reported that Vargas was moving on to A+E Networks to, quote, "be the face
of A&E Investigates." A source told the outlet that Vargas chose not to renew her contract with
ABC once it was up. Another source shared there was, quote, "no bad blood" regarding Vargas'
decision to leave. As of March 2021, according to Newsday, Vargas is A&E's lead investigative
reporter. She is also the host of America's Most Wanted on Fox, which was relaunched in 2021.
Despite a hugely successful career and numerous accolades,
Elizabeth Vargas suffered in silence throughout her run at ABC. In fact, the brave anchor even
opened up about her struggles with anxiety in a 2018 interview with NBC News, telling the outlet,
"It's the bottling it up and stuffing it down that is most destructive.
Even those of us who manage to be very highly functioning...
we're keeping this terrible dark secret inside of us, and it eats away at you."
Vargas' anxiety stemmed from her childhood after seeing her father
go off to fight in the Vietnam War. What would follow in the
coming decades were daily panic attacks that culminated in alcohol addiction.
"Addiction is such a lonely, isolating disease. You're holding everybody out away from you."
From 2012 to 2014,
Vargas battled alcoholism head-on in rehab. Speaking to Yahoo!, she revealed:
"I didn't make that decision to make [my struggles] public — somebody else
did [...] That period of getting sober for me was the hardest part
of my entire life — and I wish I had the opportunity to do that in privacy."
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues,
help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website
or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).