This weekend marked a big day for someone within the Good Morning America ranks, as anchor Paula Faris took part in her final episode on the ABC morning news program. Faris, who also recently stepped back from hosting duties on The View, got quite a mid-morning celebration on Saturday that championed her as an anchor, as a person, and as a friend to everyone on the show. Check it out below!
The video captures a fun lineup of moments from Paula Faris' years on Weekend GMA, starting off with a segment that boasts the kind of journalistic credibility that everyone in the field strives for: she talked about buying tons of toilet paper at Costco. We also got to rewatch Faris trying to find her way out of a corn maze, and as she unwittingly derailed a meditative exercise by talking the whole time.
Her (now former) co-anchor Dan Harris was having a pretty good time with the whole thing, too, poking fun at her, but making sure to keep it on the lovingly respectful side of the coin. He even started to get a little teary-eyed when talking about how much he's appreciated getting to know Paula during their time on the show together.
Speaking of lovingly respectful, I'm not sure the Weekend GMA crew could have done better with their early-hours appreciation for Paula Faris than by bringing out their table of refreshments, which included cake, champagne, and Faris' frequently referenced food of choice: bacon. This is a breakfast made for royalty, no doubt, and Faris gets much respect for not just pouncing on the bacon bowl and shielding it from others.
And hey, the video even had a goodbye message from Paula Faris' former onscreen colleague and lifetime journalist Ron Claiborne, who was the "more news reporter" for Weekend GMA before retiring this year. He pointed out that the show won't be the same without both of them, and many would probably agree.
As it was stated in the video, Paula Faris isn't actually leaving the overarching ABC News family by exiting the Good Morning America crew. Details have been kept under wraps about her future with the company, but she will indeed have a new role on the news side of things, and will reportedly be seen across the spectrum of ABC news programming.
Faris originally joined ABC News in 2012 and was seen on World News Now and America This Morning, and later started filling in for spots of Good Morning America. It was in 2014 that Faris got the full promotion to Weekend GMA anchor, replacing Bianna Golodryga, and she later broadened her job slate by joining The View as a co-host for Season 19. It was earlier this year that she stepped away from hosting duties on that show.
The Good Morning America shows have seen quite a bit of talent juggling and time slot-shifting in recent years, with Michael Strahan being in the middle of most of it. When will we see Paula Faris showing up again to visit the new-ish anchor team? Stay tuned, and head to our fall TV premiere schedule to see what new and returning shows are on the way.
