Elizabeth Vargas Is Leaving ABC to Focus on Her Sons and Get a 'Fresh Start,' Source Says
Elizabeth Vargas is ready for a new adventure.
The longtime ABC News anchor, who has been with the network for two decades and an anchor at 20/20 for 14 years, announced last December that she’s leaving the TV newsmagazine at the end of its 40th season in May.
On Monday, ABC announced that Good Morning America anchor Amy Robach, 45, will replace Vargas as co-host of 20/20 alongside David Muir, 44. Vargas, 55, is relocating to A+E Networks, where she will be the face of A&E Investigates.
A source tells PEOPLE that Vargas’ contract was up and the network chose not to renew it.
“She had been there for a really long time and had an opportunity that seemed to be a better fit,” the source says.
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A second source adds that there’s no bad blood in the decision to part ways, noting that the network was always supportive of Vargas throughout her battle with alcoholism and anxiety.
“If you read her book you know that she repeatedly struggled and fell down and wasn’t always honest with her bosses at ABC about it and really took a long road to recovery, and ABC stood by her through all of it,” says the source of Vargas’ 2016 memoir, Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction.
“They were totally great to her, and she’s grateful,” the source continues. “But it’s also not a surprise that after everything, it’s time for both parties to just move on and have a fresh start.”
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“Elizabeth is more than capable of standing on her own two feet and doing her own thing, and to not be beholden to ABC, and that is a good and healthy thing for everybody,” the insider adds.
The second source points out that Vargas has been open about wanting to spend more time with her sons Zachary, 15, and Samuel, 11, whom she shares with ex-husband Marc Cohn.
“Elizabeth’s book was such a huge hit, and then sold even more copies in paperback, that she’s been saying for a while now that she wants to devote herself more to public speaking and the self-help circuit,” says the source. “Writing the book also really emphasized to her how much time with her sons she lost when she was drinking, and she doesn’t want to spend any unnecessary time away from them during the few years she has left before they’re off to college and out of the house.”
So how will Robach, her replacement, balance the new role with her GMA duties?
“Amy will still be on GMA,” the first source explains. “Even though she’s not an official member of the cast anymore, GMA will always be her home, and she will make appearances often.”
20/20 airs Fridays (10 p.m. ET) on ABC.
