Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos Get Walk of Fame Stars

Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos will receive stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Nov. 5, nearly two decades after they began co-anchoring ABC's "Good Morning America." Michael Strahan, who joined the program as co-anchor in 2016, will emcee the unveiling ceremony.

Stephanopoulos took the "GMA" chair on Dec. 14, 2009, replacing Diane Sawyer at a Christmas-decorated anchor desk. Roberts opened that first broadcast with: "It's the dawn of a new day, new hopes, new dreams, new ways. And as you can see, a new 'GMA' co-anchor." Stephanopoulos replied simply: "It is great to be here."

How did the partnership happen?

Stephanopoulos turned the job down twice. Then-ABC News president David Westin asked Roberts to intervene. "I remember David saying, 'Would you please take him to dinner? He keeps saying no to me,'" Roberts recalled. She told him: "I'm not usually a deal closer, but I'll do my best." By dessert, Stephanopoulos had changed his mind.

"He had a great position there in Washington," Westin said of the then-"This Week" host, who lived in Georgetown with his wife, Ali Wentworth. "George did resist."

Stephanopoulos said he is "forever grateful" to Westin because "he saw something that I didn't, and the job has been a blessing."

Roberts compares their pairing to an unlikely couple: co-anchor alongside co-anchor, one extrovert, one not. "We are different in so many ways, but you find those common threads," she said, citing a conversation with Mellody Hobson about marriages that work because neither partner tries to change the other. Stephanopoulos framed it another way: "You could put us side by side on paper and say we're the ultimate odd couple. But I think we share values and outlooks on life."

Neither can recall a single argument. "Not even a disagreement," Roberts said.

What does a 'GMA' morning look like?

Stephanopoulos woke at 2:30 a.m. when he started; now it is 3:30. Roberts rises by 3:45 on weekdays and cannot sleep past 6 on weekends. Stephanopoulos was first in the studio on day one and remains first in today.

Both credit the wider team — Strahan, Sam Champion, Lara Spencer, Gio Benitez, Ginger Zee, Will Reeve and Rebecca Jarvis — with letting each anchor stay in their lane. "Sometimes we just lay back and let the kids do their thing," Roberts said.

What interviews still elude them?

Roberts' long-standing answer was Nelson Mandela. "He was my gold star," she said, noting she traveled to South Africa several times but never secured the sit-down.

Stephanopoulos wants a pope, or failing that, "President Putin or President Xi any day of the week." He interviewed Putin for five minutes alone at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, plus an hour in a group setting. Russia has since barred him from entry after an interview with the foreign minister. "I feel bad for my family because we were planning a vacation to St. Petersburg, which we now can no longer take," he said. He rules out a return to politics: "I think that ship has sailed."

How do they answer the 'fake news' charge?

Asked about public trust in media at its lowest, Stephanopoulos split the question in two. "Our audience trusts us implicitly. That's why they watch every day," he said, describing morning viewers who watch while getting their families ready. Broadly, he acknowledged "more than a decade of attacks on the media."

Roberts was blunt. "It hurts. Think about if a world leader, a leader of your country, ripped your profession apart and made the public mistrust you," she said. "It stings when you hear the words 'fake news,' and they're trying to undermine what we're doing."

Roberts, a Black, out lesbian co-anchor, said she never expected the role. "No — and with a woman!" she recalled telling Stephanopoulos when her bachelorette party aired on "GMA." "I never, never in my wildest dreams thought that would be possible. But I am so grateful." Stephanopoulos, approaching his 25th wedding anniversary, offered one contrast: if he ever had a bachelor party today, "there is zero chance it would be on 'GMA.'"