Robin Roberts' Surgery a Success
"Good Morning America" co-host Robin Roberts successfully underwent surgery to treat breast cancer yesterday, and the 46-year-old GMA gabber is reportedly already home from the hospital. This past Tuesday, Roberts announced on-air that she was diagnosed with the disease, and revealed that GMA film critic Joel Siegel's battle with cancer prompted her to get checked out.
Her revelation resulted in an outpouring of support -- and an increase in women seeking mammograms and breast exams.
A rep for "Good Morning America" said that while her surgery was successful, doctors don't yet know the long-term impact.
Is Diane Ditching 'Good Morning America'?
Diane Sawyer skipped out on a party thrown for Chris Cuomo, Sam Champion and other "Good Morning America" staffers last Friday -- and a source says that it's a sure sign that the news diva is planning on leaving the show soon.
Just as the competition heats up with "Today" after Meredith Vieira's arrival, a Sawyer sayonara could be a difficult blow to the ABC morning property. "The staff took Diane's absence as a clear message she is leaving the show," says a source to Rush & Molloy, "and is slowly starting to separate herself from it." Sawyer, say the columnists, had just arrived from interviewing Mel Gibson in his first post-DUI sit-down.
But an ABC rep dismisses any notion of Diane leaving: "She was sick in bed. She called [ABC News chief] David Westin and ['GMA' producer] Jim Murphy to see if she should still come. They urged her stay home."
GMA Signs New Weatherman Today
TMZ has learned New York TV personality Sam Champion will become the new "Weather Anchor" for ABC's "Good Morning America."
Sources say the deal will be inked today. Champion, who did the weather for WABC in New York for 19 years, will leave the station for the network gig beginning the first week in September. We're told Champion will do double duty for WABC on the 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts until the station finds a replacement.
Champion, the perennially boyish blond TV fixture, has been a fill-in weatherman countless times on GMA. He's also substituted for Regis and Larry King on their respective shows.
We're told GMA will make weather a significantly more important part of the show -- hence, Champion's new title, "Weather Anchor."
New York represents seven percent of the national TV market, and Champion's popularity makes this a big get for the Alphabet network.