Dan Harris Is Officially Leaving 'GMA' Weekend — Here's Why

Is anchor Dan Harris leaving Good Morning America weekend edition? New rumors have fans wondering if longtime journalist will take his leave of GMA for good despite an excellent working relationship with ABC.

Rumors of Dan's leaving initially sparked in 2019 when he announced he was leaving ABC's Nightline co-anchor to do GMA and focus more on his business.

During his leave, Dan noted that he was lucky to have the support take on so many different projects, including continuing to report for ABC, co-anchor on GMA weekend edition, and work on his podcast 10% Happier.

When rumors first spiraled about Dan leaving GMA, many surmised it was to work on his award-winning podcast and now meditation app, 10% Happier.

Well, Dan confirmed the rumors were true in August 2021, and officially announced his departure from GMA weekend.

"This was a difficult decision for me. As some of you may know, I’ve been spending a lot of time on my extracurricular gig, my side hustle, a meditation company, called 10% Happier," Dan said. "It’s been a lot to juggle and even though I’m a public proponent of work/life balance, if I’m honest, I’ve struggled to follow my own advice."

Dan has been with ABC News for 21 years, and said his time on GMA was, "one of the highlights of my life. My colleagues, both on and off the air, have become like a family. I really do love these people, and I am going to miss them horribly."

His candid discussion of mental health was especially poignant during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, where he took to Twitter to offer tips on surviving stress.

The podcast itself is not only filled with de-stressing tips but also includes meditation exercises, interviews with mindfulness champions, tips for practicing gratitude, and even bonus material through email to prevent "election burnout" during election cycles. This has also turned into a full-fledged meditation course catalog available on his website.

His candid discussion of mental health was especially poignant during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, where he took to Twitter to offer tips on surviving stress.

The podcast itself is not only filled with de-stressing tips but also includes meditation exercises, interviews with mindfulness champions, tips for practicing gratitude, and even bonus material through email to prevent "election burnout" during election cycles. This has also turned into a full-fledged meditation course catalog available on his website.

In fact, Dan has spoken a lot about his mental health following a 2004 panic attack live on air, trying to use his platform to encourage others to be more comfortable speaking about their own mental health. 

At the time, this was an embarrassing note in his journalistic record, but as of 2014, Dan sees this as a blessing in disguise, saying, "What I discovered as a result of the panic attack has genuinely improved my life, and could, I suspect, help many other people." He also notes that the reason for his panic attack stemmed from self-medication with drugs, spreading awareness to that end as well.

Altogether, fans are glad that Dan is taking time to focus on his growing business (don't we all need more meditation apps in our lives?) and whatever he chooses to do with his business next will be great. Maybe ABC will even feature him in a mental health awareness segment in the future?

Until then, we'll just have to catch him until October 2021, Saturdays and Sundays at 8 a.m. on GMA!