Norah O’Donnell made her formal return to the “CBS Mornings” desk Tuesday, where she told co-hosts Gayle King and Nate Burleson, “I’m feeling great. Thank you for having me back!”
It has been seven years since O’Donnell left CBS’ morning show for “CBS Evening News.” Prior to her departure in 2019, O’Donnell, 52, had spent seven years co-hosting the network’s morning program, then known as “CBS This Morning.”
Her return to “CBS Mornings” was announced on Sept. 3. Moving forward, O’Donnell will serve as permanent third host alongside Burleson and King. The latter alluded Tuesday to her and O’Donnell’s long on-air history together, telling viewers, “Norah and I have history, so we are ready to go.”
“We’re going to make this next chapter our best chapter here on ‘CBS Mornings,’ that’s for sure,” Burleson teased Tuesday, telling O’Donnell, “And you’re going to be a big part of that.” When asked how she felt on her first day back, O’Donnell said she was thankful and excited.
“I’m feeling great. Thank you for having me back. It’s great to be here,” O’Donnell told King and Burleson. “I’m thrilled about what is an exciting show ahead and a big week ahead, too.”
You can watch O’Donnell’s full welcome back to “CBS Mornings” yourself below.
The “CBS Mornings” team commemorated King and O’Donnell’s shared history Tuesday by rolling photos of the two of them during their previous co-hosting stint together. At the end of the trip down memory lane, King joked, “We look cuter now.”
“We do!” O’Donnell concurred. “Like fine wine!”
In a memo sent to staff last week, “CBS Mornings” executive producer Jon Tower called O’Donnell’s new stint at the show a “homecoming” for the longtime anchor.
“As we all know, for seven years, Norah helped lead ‘CBS This Morning’ alongside Gayle, creating one of the most memorable partnerships in the history of morning news,” Tower wrote. “They have a friendship and chemistry that extends beyond the studio. They know each other, respect each other, and — maybe most importantly — genuinely enjoy each other.”
O’Donnell’s return to “CBS Mornings” comes the same year she was promoted to a full-time correspondent for “60 Minutes.” She also launched “Healthful,” a weekly podcast exploring women’s health, in July.
Last week, O’Donnell pushed back against critics online who were expressing their disappointment over her decision to return to “CBS Mornings” during CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss’ ongoing tenure.
O’Donnell called those social media users’ complaints “so silly.” In response to a commenter’s assertion that CBS has become “little more than state sponsored, fascist propaganda” under Weiss’ hands, O’Donnell argued, “You are obviously not watching the shows.”
