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Robin Roberts broke down in tears on air on Monday following the death of top “Good Morning America” producer Thea Trachtenberg at 51 years old. The anchor said that Trachtenberg’s colleagues “really, really loved her and that’s what we should remember.” Tearing up, she added, “Boy, she had a big heart, oof.” Trachtenberg, who had …
Robin Roberts broke down in tears on air on Monday following the death of top “Good Morning America” producer Thea Trachtenberg at 51 years old.
The anchor said that Trachtenberg’s colleagues “really, really loved her and that’s what we should remember.” Tearing up, she added, “Boy, she had a big heart, oof.”
Trachtenberg, who had been with the show for 20 years and had fought cancer twice, was anchor George Stephanopoulos’ main producer, sources told The Post.
As he presented a celebration of his producer’s life, Stephanopoulos — who on Monday revealed he had tested positive for coronavirus — said she passed away early on Easter Sunday.
He called her a “force on this show and a mentor to so many on our staff and a colleague and friend with a biting wit, skeptical eye and a very big heart.”
In a note to staff on Sunday, senior executive producer Michael Corn said Trachtenberg had been “battling serious heart and lung disease for some time” and was not believed to have tested positive for coronavirus.
Corn added: “She was tireless in her pursuit of perfection in her pieces which is why she was the first choice of so many of the top talent at ABC over the years. Extraordinarily gifted at this thing we do, she could craft with equal skill epically smart and or heart wrenching and or funny television. That’s no doubt because Thea herself was razor smart and bitingly funny and filled with heart.”
Trachtenberg worked on interviews from Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama to prime ministers to the Muppets — but her favorite was U2’s Bono, Stephanopoulos said on the air.
Stephanopoulos added, “She was such an amazing human being. I worked with her on all my big shoots. She was an incredibly competent and fearless producer.”
He recalled going to the White House for Obama’s big exit interview. Standing in the Oval Office, he said Obama told him, “We have 30 minutes, right, George?” to which Trachtenberg jumped in and replied, “Mr. President, you promised us 45.”
Roberts responded, “That was Thea in a nutshell,” adding that when she got the first interview with Michelle Obama as first lady, “I said, I want Thea by my side.”
Stephanopoulos added that she was “a force as a producer, as a colleague, as a human, she’ll be very missed.”
Her loss was also mourned by ABC veteran Diane Sawyer, whose words about Trachtenberg were shared on air: “How we loved it. How we laughed. She always saw the possible. More heart. More clarity. More connection. It was never just reporting. It was a way to bring light to the world.”
Michael Strahan said he had “nothing but love for her and her family.”
ABC’s Charlie Gibson said at a celebration for Trachtenberg’s “GMA” anniversary a few months ago: “Thea is part of the bedrock of ‘GMA.’ She, I am sure, will tell you she has been fortunate to work at a place like ‘Good Morning America.’ But the program has been just as fortunate, if not more so, to have her.”
“GMA” producer Daisha Riley was quoted as saying: “Thea set the bar when it came to producing … I learned how to write for ‘GMA’ watching Thea … and when my boss asked me where I want to see my career I would say … I want to be Thea.”
