Good Morning America viewers typically see a trio of Michael Strahan, George Stephanopoulos, and Robin Roberts on the morning show.
However, George was surprisingly absent from the show on Wednesday’s episode, and was replaced by someone fans may not have preferred at the GMA desk.
The trio of main anchors typically have busy lives outside of GMA, which include other ventures and their families or significant others.
Michael was missing from GMA for over a week in the past month, but it appeared he was either vacationing or filming for his next TV appearance.
Robin was recently away from the studio, but still appeared live from Indiana, the host of this year’s WNBA All-Star Game.
George became the latest to not appear alongside his co-stars, with no explanation given and an unlikely replacement.
George’s GMA spot taken by guest star
On Wednesday’s Good Morning America, viewers saw a familiar face next to Robin and George, but it wasn’t George.
Instead, it was Joe Buck, who received a warm welcome from Robin and some jokes from Michael.
“It’s not just any Wednesday. We’ve got Joe Buck with us here at the desk. So many of us know and love him from Monday Night Football, his years of calling football and baseball games,” Robin said when introducing him.
Michael chimed in that it was “a little early” for Buck to be there, so he had a few helpful items. He passed over a “mug for some coffee” and an old-school alarm clock.
“I don’t know how you do this every day. Tip of the cap. Unbelievable,” Buck said after taking the gifts.
“It’s great. Thank you for having me. I’ll try not to drive the ratings into the ground,” he joked.
For those who didn’t see the entire GMA, Buck wasn’t just playing a joke. He stayed on as co-anchor or co-host for the whole episode.
That also included a fun golf segment where he and Michael interviewed Chris McDonald, star of Happy Gilmore 2.
Fans called out GMA over George’s replacement
Fans sounded off in the GMA Instagram post comments about seeing someone other than George as GMA’s third co-host. Some weren’t in favor of the replacement, as Buck is typically a sports commentator who has called games for ESPN or other networks.
“Missing George. I’d like to see a political journalist sit at the desk,” one commenter wrote.
Others asked, “What happened w George??,” Where’s George?,” and “NO. What happened to George?”
“Get Joe Buck OFF of my screen!” another fan wrote in the IG comments.
“Anyone is better than Joe Buck!” someone commented.
“Joe Buck on GMA so wrong,” another fan said in the IG comments.
George has been silent on his official Instagram account, with his last post (below) dated July 10. He introduced some of the day’s top news stories while walking around behind the scenes in the new GMA studio.
George has been a GMA co-anchor since late 2009, following Diane Sawyer’s departure from the show. He’s also the host of This Week, ABC’s Sunday morning political affairs program, which he has anchored since 2002 and continues to do so to this day.
He didn’t appear on Monday or Tuesday’s episodes of GMA. Instead, Linsey Davis replaced George.
As of this writing, it appears likely that George is taking a summer vacation and spending quality time with his wife and daughters. Robin Roberts and Michael Strahan didn’t indicate where their co-star was.
There are still a few more days of GMA left, so it will be interesting to see if George returns, or if it’s Joe Buck, or someone else in his seat.
