Beloved Morning Show Legends Reunite: Joan Lunden, 73, and Charlie Gibson, 81, Will Take The Stage Together Again!

Finding Happiness In Life After Cancer

• “Good Morning America” hosts from the ‘80s and ‘90s will reunite before the public for the first time since the late ‘90s for a stage play entitled “Love Letters” in Massachusetts. The veteran journalists are excited to work together again.
• Lunden was diagnosed with stage 2 triple-negative breast cancer in 2014. This type of breast cancer is more aggressive because it is unresponsive to certain targeted therapies, including hormone therapy or HER2-targeted agents like Herceptin; Chemotherapy is typically the primary treatment.
• Lunden had dense breasts, which meant doctors didn’t see her cancer during her annual mammogram. Our experts suggest patients with dense breasts get ultrasound screenings in addition to mammograms for more accurate breast cancer screenings.
• Gibson has been an advocate for cancer awareness for years, having joined fellow journalist and breast cancer survivor Katie Couric and journalist Brian Williams for a special “Stand Up to Cancer” event in 2008.

Renowned journalists Joan Lunden, 73, and Charlie Gibson, 81, who were once the familiar faces of ABC’s “Good Morning America” during the ‘80s and ‘90s, are set to create a new chapter in their friendship. This time, they are not just reuniting but stepping onto a theater stage together for the first time, marking a unique and exciting milestone in their careers. “Charlie and I have such a rapport that I think our biggest challenge is going to be not to play to each other, not to look at each other, but just play to the audience,” Lunden told WCAI News. WATCH: Joan Lunden explains her long-time friendship with Charlie Gibson . As Lunden reminisces about their early days of co-anchoring GMA, she fondly recalls how their professional relationship quickly blossomed into a deep bond akin to that of siblings. This personal connection, she believes, is what made their on-screen chemistry so palpable and endearing to the audience. “We had such an amazing rapport together. The week before he started on air, he came into my office, closed the door, and said, ‘I want to make a deal with you. Let’s make a deal that we’re going to do this show 50/50, that we’re going to show America that a man and a woman can do a show together 50/50.’ And I said, ‘Deal, buddy!” Lunden explained.

When Gibson and Lunden were offered the opportunity to reunite on a theater stage in Falmouth, Massachusetts, to perform in the play Love Letters, they jumped at the chance. Lunden admits she and Gibson haven’t done much rehearsing together but will shortly before showtime. “I have read this [script] over many, many, many times. I run it with one of my daughters, but I haven’t done it with Charlie. We’ve agreed to come in ahead of time, and run it on Friday as well as Saturday. I said, ‘Charlie, it’s just like riding a bike. That rapport with you and me is going to come right back,” Lunden said.

Expert Resources on Breast and Colorectal Cancer

• Breast Cancer: Introduction to Prevention & Screening
• Colon Cancer Screening Options And Genetics: Myth Busting With Dr. Heather Yeo
• Colon Cancer Diagnosis: What Happens After the Colonoscopy
• ‘A Mammogram Saved My Life!’ Sheryl Crow, 60, Reveals How She Almost Skipped The Crucial Test
• 10 Percent of All Women Get Called Back For Further Testing After A Mammogram — Howard Stern’s Cat-rescuing Wife, Beth, Is One of Them

Lunden’s Cancer Journey

Lunden co-hosted ABC’s “Good Morning America” for 17 years in the 1980s and 1970s. She was later a correspondent on NBC’s “TODAY” show, and it was during her time with “TODAY” that she learned of the cancer in her right breast. As remarkable as Lunden’s television career has been over the decades, equally as inspiring is her bravery surrounding her public breast cancer journey. WATCH: Joan Lunden talks about parts of the journey often kept quiet. Lunden was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in 2014. This type of cancer is not fueled by any of the three main types of receptors: estrogen, progesterone, or the HER2 protein. Since triple-negative breast cancer is constantly unresponsive to certain targeted therapies, including hormone therapy or HER2-targeted agents like Herceptin, chemotherapy is typically the treatment, and there are several options. “Any triple-negative cancer that’s over half a centimeter or has lymph node involvement needs chemotherapy,” Dr. Julie Nangia , medical oncologist at Baylor College of Medicine, said . Lunden’s cancer went nearly undetected because she has dense breasts, which means the breast has less fatty breast tissue, making it more difficult for mammograms alone to see the cancer. For women with dense breasts, they are encouraged to get an ultrasound alongside a mammogram to see any signs of cancer better. WATCH: Joan Lunden and the Power of Support During Cancer. Lunden’s husband, Jeff Konigsberg, shared that during her chemotherapy treatments, she helped others undergoing chemo alongside her. “As Joan would go for a chemo session, she would go up to everybody else in the room who was receiving chemo; she wanted to know how they were doing and if they had that support. She just always cared about others,” he continued. In a previous interview with SurvivorNet, Lunden shared that she knew little about breast cancer before she was diagnosed with it. “Candidly,” says Lunden, “I never thought I would be one of the women who would get breast cancer.” Despite having to cope with her diagnosis, she managed to do it in stride. She’s since become a breast cancer advocate, offering hope and advice to other women battling the disease.

Charlie’s Journey

Gibson's career began in the mid-1960s. He worked his way up the news industry ladder from local television affiliates to ABC News. The nation got to know him during the mid-1970s as a White House correspondent, then in the ‘80s covering Congress. He joined Lunden as host of “Good Morning America” in 1987 and co-anchored the show until the late 1990s. Gibson also anchored ABC “World News” during the mid-2000s until his retirement in 2009. He was appointed to the National Board of Advisors for the Moffit Cancer Center. Gibson said after his appointment, “Cancer affects us all, and Moffitt is at the forefront of treatment and research.” Gibson's advocacy for cancer awareness caused him to join cancer survivor Katie Couric and fellow journalist Brian Williams in a "Stand Up to Cancer" special event.