NEED TO KNOW
Eva Pilgrim is the new anchor of Inside Edition.
Pilgrim’s new role was announced Monday, July 7, just over a month after Deborah Norville officially signed off Inside Edition after 30 years as the longtime show’s anchor.
Inside Edition executive producer Charles Lachman said in a statement that Pilgrim joining the team feels like “we won the jackpot.”
“She has solid news chops from her years as a reporter and anchor in national and local news, plus a warm relatability that resonates with audiences,” Lachman continued. “We look forward to having a journalist of her caliber take Inside Edition into its next chapter.”
MICHAEL LE BRECHT/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc./Getty
In a statement of her own, Pilgrim called joining Inside Edition as its new anchor “truly a dream job.”
“I have been an avid viewer and fan of the show for many years,” she said. “I’m pinching myself that I get to work with this amazing team. It’s truly an honor to join a show with such a long, rich history.”
Pilgrim comes to Inside Edition from ABC News, where she served as co-anchor of GMA3: What You Need to Know and as senior national correspondent.
Pilgrim’s Instagram post about her new gig earned her congratulatory messages from her ABC News colleagues, including David Muir, Gio Benitez, Rebecca Jarvis, Deborah Roberts, Ginger Zee, Whit Johnson and Matt Gutman, to name a few.
Inside Edition viewers can expect to see Pilgrim — just the fourth anchor in the show’s history – on their screens this fall when it returns for its 38th season.
Norville helmed her last episode of Inside Edition in June, bidding farewell to the show and its viewers in a heartfelt signoff.
Norville said she was “literally swimming in gratitude” in the final moments of her last episode.
“Since I announced my departure last month, I have been floored by the response of my peers and by you, our viewers,” she said. “I’ve stayed this long because you welcomed me and the stories that we tell. I know Inside has been a companion to many of you, and you’ve told me that you’ll miss our daily visits. I’m going to miss them too.”
“In my very first job in television, a woman I worked with told me I didn’t belong there. I have spent the last 47 years trying to prove her wrong,” she continued. “And so my thought is this: Believe in yourself when it seems no one else does, because you may be amazed where that confidence will take you. Thank you all. Thank you so much.”
CBS
Norville joined Inside Edition in 1995 and is the longest-serving female anchor on national TV.
The journalist announced she was leaving Inside Edition in April, during the same telecast in which she celebrated her 30 years on the show.
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Ahead of her departure, Norville exclusively told PEOPLE this was the “right move” for her and her family.
