ABC News journalist Amy Robach is a frontrunner to become the next anchor of “20/20,” after Elizabeth Vargas departs, a person familiar with the matter told TheWrap on Friday.
A formal announcement from ABC is not expected until at least next month.
Robach would fill the a vacancy left by Vargas, who said Friday in an internal memo that she would step down in May after she wraps up the show’s 40th season. Vargas has been with the program for 14 of those seasons.
“I will be leaving ABC News, and 20/20 at the end of this historic 40th season. It has been a profound privilege to be the anchor of 20/20 for 14 years, and a true honor to work with each and every one of you,” she wrote. “I am so very proud of the stories we have told together.”
Robach with co-host the show with David Muir who has worked alongside Vargas on the iconic program since 2013.
Robach’s career in network television began as a correspondent for NBC. She moved over to ABC in 2012 and since 2014 has been an anchor on “Good Morning America.” She won’t be a stranger to the set of 20/20 having both anchored and reported pieces for the program in the past.
Some of her past work for 20/20 has included an examination of the botched Rolling Stone UVA rape story and an interview with former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson.
In one of her most famous stories, she underwent a mammogram in 2013 to encourage viewers to do the same — and was shocked to learn that she had cancer. She has since made a full recovery.