David Muir Off Duty!

THE WORLD NEWS TONIGHT ANCHOR GETS CANDID ABOUT LIFE OUTSIDE THE NEWSROOM AND HIS VIRAL 'DADDY' STATUS

- JOELLE GOLDSTEIN

David Muir is more than what meets the eye. Yes, he's the most-watched news anchor in America, helming the news desk of ABC's World News Tonight since 2014. He's covered dozens of global events, helped raise millions for humanitarian efforts through his reporting and was recently named to the 2025 Time 100 list, honored with a tribute by his friend and mentor Diane Sawyer. But despite his many accomplishments and lengthy tenure in journalism, Muir, 51, says he's most himself in a setting far from the newsroom.

“My most comfortable element is being outside, covered in mud,” he says following a Memorial Day weekend trip to his hometown in upstate New York. “It was pouring rain, and I loved every second of it. When you're out there on the lake, smelling the same air that you smelled when you were on your BMX bike back when you were a kid, there’s something really fueling about that. You just feel like you're home again.”