Making it to the anchor desk of a popular morning show is a dream that most broadcasters will never realize, but those who have made it to the top have had to pay their dues just like everyone else.
The images below show just how much America’s most famous morning show hosts have changed since they got their starts. Many of them worked for local news stations before rising to the top, while others took entirely different paths.
You see them on TV every morning, but can you look past these anchors’ old haircuts and wardrobes and guess which famous names match up with these unfamiliar faces?
SCROLL DOWN FOR ANSWERS
1. SIDEKICK NO MORE
This broadcast journalist launched her career as a production assistant at WJZ-TV in Baltimore, Maryland, where she met her best friend in 1976. She got her big break as a news anchor for WFSB in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1981, but she didn’t make the move to morning news until 2011.
2. POLITICAL POWERHOUSE
Politics was this morning show co-anchor’s claim to fame before he shifted his focus to broadcasting. He served as deputy manager of Bill Clinton’s 1992 U.S. presidential campaign. He later became one of the commander-in-chief’s trusted advisers and de facto press secretary during his first term. Nearly 30 years later, he looks almost exactly the same.
3. NEW ORLEANS HAS HER HEART
This morning show star and breast cancer survivor still loves the New Orleans Saints after working as an anchor at a CBS affiliate in the Big Easy in the late ’90s. After making it to the big leagues, she got to enjoy plenty of wine with her former co-star while live on-air.
4. SPORTS AFICIONADO
This former sportscaster spent 15 years at ESPN and was known for using the catchphrase, ‘Go on with your bad self!’ before she became a morning show co-anchor in 2005. She has been an inspiration for many after beating both breast cancer and a rare bone marrow disorder, which she chronicled on the program.
5. PRESIDENTIAL SEAL OF APPROVAL
Former President Donald Trump is a fan of this host, whose son works at the same network. He got his big break as the host of NBC’s nationally syndicated program House Party in 1990 and scored his first morning show job four years later. He has also published not one but two cookbooks with his wife.
6. BEAUTY QUEEN
This breaking news anchor was named the 4th runner-up in the 1995 Miss Georgia before getting her start at WCBD-TV, a local station in Charleston, South Carolina. She worked her way up from a morning show correspondent to a news anchor. Now, she does double duty for her network as the co-anchor of a popular primetime news program.
7. LEGAL WIZ
This morning show star spent several years working as a broadcast journalist before earning her law degree from Georgetown University. She covered major news stories while juggling work and school, including the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon. She was named a co-anchor after her predecessor was publicly ousted.
8. HE’S TACKLED IT ALL
This former NFL star player was a defensive end for the New York Giants for 15 years. After retiring from the sport, he worked as a football analyst before picking up a lucrative talk show gig. However, he left his former colleague blindsided when he jumped ship to become a full-time morning show co-anchor.
9. WEIGHT LOSS WONDER
This TV personality was still a college student when he started working as a weather anchor in the mid-1970s, but he didn’t book his morning show gig until 1996. He has been candid about his gastric bypass surgery, which helped him lose more than 100 pounds. Now, you’ll often see him walking in New York City’s Central Park.
10. DIVING RIGHT IN
As a nationally ranked competitive diver, this co-anchor attended Penn State University on an athletic scholarship and graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism. She got her big break covering the 1996 TWA Flight 800 crash for WABC-TV in New York City. She is a seasoned news veteran, but she faced backlash in 2019 when she mocked Prince George of Cambridge’s interest in ballet.
11. NOTHING TO JOKE ABOUT
This morning show host got his start as a correspondent for Channel One, a daily national high school television news program. He has covered sports for both TV and radio, including the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Fans might not know that he has a decade of experience in standup comedy, but that’s because they see him as a friend.
12. CATCHING IT ALL
After playing college football for the University of Nevada, this Canadian-born star was drafted into the NFL by the Minnesota Vikings in 2003. The former wide receiver also played for the Seattle Seahawks and the Detroit Lions before moving on to broadcasting. Next month, he’ll be celebrating his one-year anniversary at his current gig.
13. THE WRITE STUFF
This host had an unconventional journey to the anchor desk. He worked as a writer at Newsweek and The Daily Beast before transitioning to broadcast in 2016. After just three years in front of the camera, he was named a co-anchor on a major morning show.
14. BOMBSHELL REPORTING
This television personality scored her first journalism job at WLTX, a local CBS station in Columbia, South Carolina, before she graduated from the University of South Carolina. After seven years of working at various stations, she moved to New York City for her first gig at a major network in 2007, and she never left. Unlike most anchors on this list, she was portrayed in a 2019 movie featuring a number of A-list stars.
HOW DID YOU DO?
Gayle King, 67, has been co-anchoring of CBS Mornings, formerly known as CBS This Morning, since 2012
George Stephanopoulos, 61, became a co-anchor on ABC’s Good Morning America in 2009
Hoda Kotb, 58, was named co-anchor of NBC’s Today in 2018 – more than 20 years after she joined the morning show
Robin Roberts, 61, became a co-anchor on Good Morning America in 2005
Steve Doocy, 65, has been co-hosting Fox & Friends since 1998 – two years after he joined the Fox News Channel
Amy Robach, 49, has been a news anchor for Good Morning America since 2014. She also co-anchors 20/20
Savannah Guthrie, 50, has been a co-anchor on the Today show since 2012
Michael Strahan, 50, joined Good Morning America full-time in 2016 after two years of working as a regular contributor on the show
Al Roker, 67, has been the Today show’s full-time weather anchor since 1996
Lara Spencer, 53, first joined Good Morning America as a national correspondent in 1999. She has been a co-host since 2014
Brian Kilmeade, 58, has co-hosted Fox & Friends since 1998
Nate Burlesonc, 41, has been hosting CBS Mornings since September 2021
Tony Dokoupil, 41, was named co-anchor co-anchor CBS This Morning, now CBS Mornings, in 2019
Ainsley Earhardt, 45, has been a co-host on Fox & Friends since 2016
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk