Former “GMA” Anchor Joan Lunden Says Young Daughters Used to Come Downstairs and Kiss the TV Screen in the Mornings
Former “GMA” Anchor Joan Lunden Says Young Daughters Used to Come Downstairs and Kiss the TV Screen in the Mornings
Tereza ShkurtajSun, March 1, 2026 at 10:30 AM UTC
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Joan Lunden.Credit: John Lamparski/Getty -
In her March 2026 cover interview with Woman’s World, Joan Lunden reflected on balancing her years at Good Morning America with raising her children
The 75-year-old fondly recalled small moments like her daughters’ sweet morning ritual when spotting her on TV
She also discussed her 1979 breastfeeding revolution while working with ABC
For nearly two decades, Joan Lunden was a steady presence in America’s living rooms, greeting viewers each morning on Good Morning America. Her warmth and credibility helped define the show during a transformative era in broadcast television.
In a recent interview with Woman's World, Lunden reflected not just on her groundbreaking career, but on the family life that anchored it. She spoke candidly about juggling early call times, global assignments and motherhood — lessons that left a lasting imprint on her seven children.
“What [my children] really got from those years was that I was at everything important, but I also showed them that as a woman, you can be a lot of different things in life,” Lunden told Woman's World. “We could be a wife and a mom, but we could also have a career. We could even do multiple careers.”
Joan Lunden and daughters, Lindsay and Jamie, in 1987.Credit: Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection/Getty
Reminiscing on early mornings with her children, Lunden remembers her daughters running downstairs before school, spotting their mom on the television and kissing the screen.
What might have sparked guilt in the young, working mom instead became a powerful lesson. Years later, even one of her daughters reflected on that example, telling her: “That was really a good thing to imbue in us."
Outside the home, Lunden was quietly reshaping societal expectations long before conversations about working motherhood and breastfeeding were common. In 1979, when ABC approached her about co-hosting GMA, she had one nonnegotiable request.
“I’m breastfeeding, and I need to bring the baby,” she told the network, according to Woman’s World. Executives agreed, but cautiously. “They’re like, ‘We’re letting you do this, but don’t tell anybody. They’ll think that you can’t concentrate,’” she recalled.
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However, when other outlets got wind of the arrangement and started asking questions, Lunden had little choice but to be honest, and the result was unprecedented. ABC ensured her contract permitted her to travel anywhere in the world with her baby that first year, and at just 1 year old, her daughter Jamie joined her to cover the wedding of now-King Charles III and the late Princess Diana.
David Hartman and Joan Lunden on 'Good Morning America' in 1980.Credit: Joe McNally/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty
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“There was something ingratiating about waking up in the morning and having a person that’s telling you the world is still spinning on its axis and giving you the news of the day, who is also a woman with children who has to deal with diapers and breastfeeding,” Lunden told Woman’s World.
Lundren shares three daughters with her first husband, Michael Krauss, whom she was married to from 1978 to 1992. She later welcomed two sets of twins via surrogacy with her second husband, Jeff Konigsberg, whom she wed in 2000.
The journalist departed from GMA in 1997 after 17 years.
On March 3, the beloved TV host will release her 11th book called JOAN: Life Beyond the Script.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
