'This Week' Is Missing George Stephanopoulos — Here's Why

The ABC News show This Week With George Stephanopoulos stars Good Morning America anchor George Stephanopoulos as the main anchor who leads weekly coverage of politics and social issues in the United States and around the world. So when he was absent from most of the March 2026 episodes, viewers wanted to know why George was not on This Week.

Technically, though, George co-hosts the weekly show with Martha Raddatz and Jonathan Karl. They're both from ABC News and, per the official landing page for This Week, they are featured alongside George. But without George hosting and delivering important questions to political guests, viewers at home feel the weight of his absence.

Unfortunately, George did not share on social media or otherwise why he is missing as the main anchor from multiple episodes of This Week in March 2026. However, there is a rotating roster of anchors who often appear in his place. And in March 2026, it looks like different anchors will take the reins in place of George because of their long-standing roles on the Sunday show.

Martha Raddatz led the March 15, 2026, episode, which featured an interview with Energy Secretary Chris Wright about the war in Iran. It was also referred to as a "special edition" at the top of the episode. For the following week's episode on March 22, 2026, Jonathan Karl hosted in place of George. But both Jonathan and Martha are regular anchors for the longtime ABC News show, so their presence alone isn't totally unheard of.

The issue that some have is the absence of George. But, because he also co-hosts Good Morning America, it's possible that he needed time off from This Week for pulling double duty. He hasn't publicly shared why he isn't on This Week, though, so until he does, viewers will continue to question just what is going on.

George became the main host of This Week in 2002, according to The Washington Post. He left in 2010, but returned as the host in 2012. Per Page Six, his contract was renewed in 2014 for the amount of $105 million.

George has been open on This Week about asking important questions during Donald Trump's second term in the White House. In an interview with JD Vance, in which George asked a question about Tom Homan, White House border czar, being accused of accepting $50,000 from undercover FBI agents, he cut Vance off mid-sentence.

After Vance called George's questions and comments a "weird left-wing rabbit hole," and George responded, the feed was abruptly cut off as Vance replied to him.

In another interview on This Week with Marco Rubio, George pointed out how Trump mentioned that Rubio is now running Venezuela, and George outright asked Rubio if he was now the leader of Venezuela. So for some, George's absences on This Week make a big impact.