DeMarco Morgan and Eva Pilgrim Tapped as New Anchors of ABC’s ‘GMA3’

ABC News has found the new anchors for GMA3, the early afternoon spinoff of Good Morning America.

ABC News president Kim Godwin said Thursday that the hour will be led by anchors Eva Pilgrim and DeMarco Morgan, joining Dr. Jen Ashton, the chief medical correspondent for ABC News, who has been a fixture on the hour for the past three years.

Morgan and Pilgrim have been among the anchors that have filled in over the last few months.

A former correspondent and anchor for CBS News and some of its local stations, Morgan joined ABC News in December 2022 as a Los Angeles-based correspondent. Pilgrim joined ABC News in 2015, and had been a correspondent and anchor for GMA‘s weekend edition.

Gio Benitez, ABC’s transportation correspondent, will join GMA‘s weekend edition as its new co-anchor, anchoring alongside Whit Johnson and Janai Norman.

“I am incredibly proud of the reporting Eva, DeMarco and Gio have brought to ABC News,” Godwin wrote in a memo to staff Thursday. “They join their colleagues Whit, Janai, and Dr. Jen whose steadfast commitment to bold, straightforward journalism has been integral to their respective programs’ success.”

GMA3 had been without a permanent anchor team since December, when T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach were pulled from anchoring duties after a tabloid revealed that they were in a personal relationship. Robach and Holmes exited ABC News a month later, with a spokesperson saying the decision was “best for everyone.”

GMA3 began in 2018 as GMA Day, an afternoon spinoff of Good Morning America hosted by Michael Strahan and Sara Haines. It was rebranded multiple times since then, taking the format GMA3: What You Need to Know amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It was at that time that Ashton became a near-daily fixture on the program.

Read Godwin’s note to staff, below.

Good morning, ABC News – 

I am pleased to announce that Eva Pilgrim and DeMarco Morgan will join “GMA3: What You Need to Know” as co-anchors of the program, with Dr. Jennifer Ashton as ABC News chief health and medical correspondent.

Eva Pilgrim joined ABC News in 2015 as a correspondent based in New York and has also served as co-anchor of “Good Morning America” Saturday and Sunday since 2018. While at ABC News, Eva has covered breaking news stories, including the recent mass shooting in Nashville, the Alex Murdaugh trial, the Charlottesville rally, the 2020 presidential election, the murder of George Floyd, and Hurricanes Matthew, Harvey, Irma, Maria and Michael. Prior to ABC News, Eva got her start in local news making stops in Bluefield, West Virginia; Columbia, South Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

DeMarco Morgan joined ABC News in 2022 as a correspondent based in Los Angeles. Since joining ABC News, DeMarco has covered a wide range of breaking news stories, including the recent severe weather in the West. Prior to ABC News, DeMarco was co-anchor of the weekday 4:30-7:00 a.m. and 11 a.m. newscasts at KCBS in Los Angeles where he also reported for all CBS News networks’ broadcasts and platforms. Before that, he was a CBS News correspondent. He covered stories ranging from destructive wildfires in California to the deadly Las Vegas mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest music festival. He also covered both RNC and DNC 2016 political conventions.

Gio Benitez will join “Good Morning America” Saturday and Sunday broadcasts alongside current co-anchors Whit Johnson and Janai Norman.

Gio Benitez has been ABC News’ transportation correspondent since 2020 covering aviation during the industry’s near-total collapse in the pandemic and space at the onset of America’s private space race, plus the auto industry and railroads. Since joining ABC News in 2013, Gio has notably covered the Pulse nightclub shooting, El Chapo’s underground escape from a Mexican prison and the Boston Marathon bombing. He has a long history of breaking exclusive investigative stories, and some of these investigations have led to important safety recalls. Before joining ABC News in 2013, he was a reporter for WFOR-TV in Miami.

I am incredibly proud of the reporting Eva, DeMarco and Gio have brought to ABC News. They join their colleagues Whit, Janai, and Dr. Jen whose steadfast commitment to bold, straightforward journalism has been integral to their respective programs’ success. I must also acknowledge the incredible work of the teams led by executive producers Simone Swink and Cat McKenzie whose programs are the ones most Americans turn to for the day’s news, analysis and more. I know these programs – and our viewers at home – will be well-served by all of their collective talents.

Please join me in congratulating Eva, DeMarco and Gio on these well-deserved new roles.

#oneabcnews  

Kim