Lara Spencer Leaving 'The Insider' to Join 'Good Morning America'

By Sarah Crow Posted Mar 17th 2011 12:45PM

After nearly seven years as the host of 'The Insider,' Lara Spencer is returning to her old stomping grounds as the new lifestyle anchor on 'Good Morning America.'

Spencer, who previously served as a correspondent on GMA before moving on to her gig at the CBS-hosted news magazine, will start at her new position in May.

Linda Bell Blue, executive producer of 'The Insider,' tells The Hollywood Reporter that Spencer's news is "bittersweet."

"We respect her decision to accept this exciting opportunity and wish her every success in her new job," she says.

"We are grateful for all of [Spencer's] contributions since day one of 'The Insider,'" says Bell Blue.

ABC News president Ben Sherwood added in an e-mail to the ABC staff, "In this new role, Lara will bring her well-known and much admired versatility and vitality to a broad range of 'GMA' stories."

Spencer's former position at 'The Insider' has been taken over by 'Entertainment Tonight' correspondent Kevin Frazier.

Bell Blue said of Frazier's new role, "Kevin has been an integral part of the 'ET/Insider' family for seven years. He is one of the most respected correspondents in entertainment news with incredible sources and connections that will be put to good use as co-anchor of 'The Insider.'"

Tags: LARA SPENCER

Comments

(20)

Thursday 17 March

By blkkboii

Vote down Vote up Report this

really?

By stu

i don't get men who host/work for these gossip mag shows. to see billy bush talk bout Sandra's oscar dress is a turn off. these guys r srt8?

By simpsonsimpmike

What a gorgeous woman

By joanjmak05

Lara Spencer should have been given Mary Hart's position instead of Nancy O'Dell. I guess Nancy did alot of Butt kissing to get that job.

By Bonnie Meyers

No they can get rid of that awful Chris Jacobs !

By bigD

Linda Bell Blue is single handedly killing ET. First she instituted the fine art of endless teasers that give away the whole show before it airs, then she replaces Mary Hart with the extremely annoying and frozen-faced Nancy O'dell. And now I see Chris Jacobs popping up on ET. I hope Ms Blue is not planning on replacing Mark Steines with him. I'm gone if she does. I never liked the Insider and after watching ET for many years, I'm about to switch to Extra thanks to Ms Blue's ruining ET>

By rcarol

Where is Chris Jacobs? I haven't seen him on The Insider all this week. I'm glad Lara is moving on, it must have been very boring and mundane to do the same thing for 7 years. I don't like Kevin Frazier, he has an unlikeable smile (when he does smile). Hopefully he'll be replaced soon.

By joan

They switched places. Chris is now on ET and Kevin on Insider and I do not like either show anymore. Chris has no personality and Kevin is very phony. Too much of the same old, same old on both shows. I like Access Hollywood better...but they too are beginning to be very repetitious.

By joann

Good-bye GMA, Hello, the Insider! Why they would put her on GMA I will never know. She is so irratating and phony. Kevin will do a good job on The Insider tho. Good for him. Ratings Drop for GMA

By Addison DeWitt

Lara used to be reporter for WABC in New York. She jumped to GMA and did fluff pieces, like on plastic surgery. She did this one report where she fooled around with Charlie Gibson, essentially showing him disrespect. She was gone shortly thereafter. Now that Charlie's retired, I guess they felt they could let Lara back on the show. She's a bubblehead though. No Diane Sawyer, that's for sure.

By Larry W. Bruce

Congrats to Lara spencer. Although we will miss you on The Insider every evening, we will see you on Good Morning America.

By moe

i remember her as host on antiques roadshow. i remember her as a talentless and not so bright hack. now she goes to join the other talentless and not so bright hacks at gma. fitting, i think.

By Jan

Lara was also a delight on Antiques Roadshow. I wish she would have stayed after the baby. I hopw she goes far!

By realtor530

Nancy O'Dell is great on ET and it makes so much sense that Linda Bell Blue would chose her as Mary's replacement. That was a no-brainer! As for Lara Spencer...I wish her the best of luck at GMA. She'll be great there.

By Beatrix

I wouldn't watch Insider while Chris jacobs was on. Guess I better not try ET either. Kevin Frasier seems fine.

By stinkfistula

C'mon.....she got a boob job , married a filthy rich older dude
and now she has to work with the straight midget Georgie
Suckalotofpuss. No wonder actual journalists like Elizabeth
Vargas get the shaft.

Friday 18 March

By Susan

You don't know what the heck your talking about!!!Her husband is not older and filthy rich , he may be the nicest guy in the world! Who cares what one does cosmetically!!Does not change their personality! She is always upbeat and fun. I enjoy her stories even thought the format is always the same on The insider. The show is getting old and not the reporters!

Tuesday 10 May

By susan freeman

when i heard lara spencer was leaving the insider i thought the station finally wised up and got rid of her. no such luck now she is on in the morning but probably not everyday what a relief.
she is very haughty. there are many "BEAUTIFUL" women on tv and are not in the least pretentious; she must have had a family member in the businness. here's a thought she can work behind the scenes.

Thursday 19 May

By liz

lucky abc.. Miss Lara on the insider... and Brooke Anderson-good grief- bet if her hands were tied down she would not be able to speak.

Saturday 21 May

By VBGirl

I like Lara. The last few shows with her on the Insider, I noticed she didn't look happy. Wasn't her bubbly self. I thought something was wrong by her lack of enthusiasm. I didn't know she was leaving the show. Maybe she got the boot and didn't want to leave. Noticed that Kevin had more speaking lines. Now it all makes sense - they were grooming him. I don't like Insider as much anymore. Kevin seems a bit over the top. Nice guy, but a little fakey. I liked the format with the panel of 4. At least you got opposing views to keep things interesting - less focus on the hosts, and more on the news/gossip.

As far as ET, no one can replace Mary, but Nancy is a good choice. And they better never get rid of Mark Steines. He is so adorable and genuine. Chris Jacobs is not likable at all and a bit arrogant at times.

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