‘GMA’ Fans Are Shocked by Robin Roberts’ Old Career Hopes

Robin Roberts has co-anchored Good Morning America for almost 20 years, so it’s hard to imagine a time before she wasn’t a television news host. However, it turns out she had a very surprising first job.

In a TikTok video posted on the Good Morning America account on August 14, Roberts was asked what her first-ever job was, and the answer shocked fans. The legendary host revealed she worked as a school bus driver while in her senior year of high school at 18 years old.

“School bus driver, when I was a senior in high school,” she said in the video clip. “I turned 18 my senior year, and the tennis coach said we needed a driver because we were always having to cancel our matches because we didn’t have a driver. So, I was the driver.”

Roberts didn’t just drive her teammates to tennis matches, though; she revealed she also picked up the other kids for school from time to time.

@gma Your GMA faves weren’t always on TV! We asked them to take us back to their first job where it all started. What was your first job? #firstjob #job #work ♬ original sound – Good Morning America

“Now, because it was a small school district down there in Mississippi, when a driver would call in sick, I was the substitute driver,” she explained. “So, can you imagine pulling up, opening up the school bus door, and your classmates seeing your face behind the wheel? Priceless.”

“School bus drivers rule!” she concluded.

Fans loved learning about Roberts’ surprising first-job and took to the comments section to share their reactions.

“No way Robin a school bus driver that awesome,” wrote one commenter.

“You go girl. Still an important job,” said another.

Another added, “School Bus Drivers! Got my CDL at 21 and I’m 26 now, been driving ever since.”

“Me too!!! At 16 and a half” said one fan.

“Robin’s job was cool,” added another.

Roberts was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, but grew up in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where she played basketball and tennis. She’d go on to attend Southeastern Louisiana University, where she graduated cum laude in 1983 with a degree in communication.

Her broadcasting career started that same year when she joined WDAM-TV in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, as a sports anchor and reporter.

She joined ESPN in 1990 and appeared as a featured reporter for Good Morning America in June 1995. In 2005, Roberts was promoted to co-anchor of Good Morning America, a role she has served in ever since.

Good Morning America, Weekdays, 7am/6c, ABC