CELEBRITY Q&A Checking in with Ginger Zee
Weather keeps Ginger Zee on the move.
On any weekday, it’s a guess whether ABC News’ chief meteorologist will be in the New York “Good Morning America” studio or out on location, reporting on atmospheric matters. Particularly when inclement conditions make headlines, it’s a sure bet that Zee – also a best-selling author who cohosts the weekend ABC series “Hearts of Heroes” as well – wants to be where the action is happening.
Named by her Dutch father after Tina Louise’s Ginger Grant character on the classic sitcom “Gilligan’s Island,” Zee (born Ginger Renee Zuidgeest) also leads the climate unit for ABC News and has done a number of related special reports, not only as the subjects apply to the United States but also globally. (She’s now very involved in the ABC News-wide initiative “Climate Ready.”) When she graduated from college, Zee’s intention was to become a meteorologist for NBC’s “Today” … and even if she ultimately landed at a different network, she was eyeing the right time slot.
Zee actually worked at several NBC affiliates as she built her career, the most pivotal one arguably being network-owned Chicago station WMAQ-TV. She got to substitute on the weekend edition of “Today,” but it was ABC that came calling for her on a permanent basis in 2011, when she joined the weekend edition of “Good Morning America.” She moved to the weekday position in 2013, but her broadcast day doesn’t necessarily end when “GMA” does: She frequently appears evenings on “ABC World News Tonight With David Muir” as well.
As part of the “GMA” family, Zee has seen her duties expand
Ginger Zee from “Good Morning America” to segments on such topics as “The View,” “The Year: entertainment and fashion as 2020,” “The Year: 2021,” “The well, and she’s gotten attention Year: 2022,” “Jeopardy!,” for her support of the environment-minded “Dancing With the Stars,” No New Clothes “Younger,” “Famous in Love,” Challenge in recent times. It’s “Mission Force One,” “The part and parcel of her main $100,000 Pyramid,” “Rachael job, with which she appears Ray,” “The Chew,” “Worst Cooks destined to stay for some time in America,” “Tornado Chasers,” to come. “Storm Chasers”
Birthdate: Jan. 13, 1981 Education: Rockford
Birthplace: Orange, Calif. (Mich.) High School, Valparaiso
Current residence: Rockland (Ind.) University County, N,Y, Television stations she
Marital status: Married to has worked for: WEYI-TV television journalist Ben Aaron; (Flint, Mich.), WYIN-TV (Merrillville, they have two sons Ind.), WOOD-TV (Grand
Other television credits Rapids, Mich.), WBMA-TV
include: “Hearts of Heroes,” (Birmingham, Ala.), WMAQ-TV “This Week,” “20/20,” “Nightline,” (Chicago, Ill.)