A HISTORIC MOMENT FOR ABC NEWS: GMA Host Ginger Zee Marks the beginning of a New Era, as an Emotional Farewell from Sam Champion leaves viewers in Tears!
She’s hotter than a subway platform in August, thrills at standing in the eye of a hurricane and considers discussing the recorded wind speed inside a tornado to be pillow talk.
On Thursday, Ginger Zee steps into the top weather job at “Good Morning America” — and all of ABC News for that matter, taking over for longtime forecaster Sam Champion.
The stunner has always had TV in her blood. Her dad, a fan of “Gilligan’s Island,” named her after one of its characters.
“He named me Ginger, but I’m more of a Mary Ann,” Zee, 32, told The News. “My father grew up in the Netherlands and learned to speak English by watching that show,” she says. ” ‘Gilligan’ was his favorite show, and he picked Ginger — he certainly like her or the pretty dresses she wore, I’m not sure.”
Ginger Zee (left) joined ABC as weekend forecaster at ‘GMA’ in 2011 — now she’s getting the top job with Sam Champion’s (right) exit to The Weather Channel.
Zee also has local roots — her mom is from Levittown, L.I.
“But I was born in Southern California, so there is no rhyme or reason to it,” she says.
She grew up in Rockford, Mich., went to college aiming to specialize in storm chasing, and then, during a college internship, decided that her goal was to be a meteorologist on national TV.
Ginger Zee,a favorite of ABC News chief Ben Sherwood even before she joined ‘GMA’ team, shows off her engagement ring in August. She’s keeping tabs on the forecast for her wedding to WNBC on-air personality Ben Aaron.
“I’m so humbled to get this chance to be a part of this group on ‘GMA,’ ” she says. “I’ve been filling in for two years, so it’s not exactly like a stranger coming into a family — it’s more like someone who’s been away at school and then comes home.”
Unlike so many other weatherpeople on TV, Zee is a certified meteorologist and holds a bachelor of science degree in the subject.
Network insiders told The News that Zee is a favorite of ABC News chief Ben Sherwood and caught his eye shortly before she was named “GMA’s” weekend weather anchor in 2011.
Ginger Zee says her dad was a huge fan of ‘Gilligan’s Island’ — the show that inspired her namesake. Pictured from the show: Alan Hale Jr.; Tina Louise, who played Ginger; and Bob Denver.
She occasionally appears on other ABC shows, such as “Nightline,” and will do so more often as the network’s chief weather wiz.
And she’s taken. Zee’s longtime boyfriend, WNBC/Ch.4 personality Ben Aaron, got down on one knee last August in front of Lincoln Center, near the fountain where they had their first date.
They plan to get hitched in June.
“I’ve been all over the forecast for that day,” she says.
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