Janai Norman is an American journalist who spent about 15 years at ABC News, most recently as co-anchor of Good Morning America Weekend. ABC did not renew her contract in April 2026, and she’s now preparing a memoir. If you’re here for her age, her husband or her net worth, those answers are below, along with the places where sources disagree.
Quick answer
- Who she is: Former GMA Weekend co-anchor (2022 to April 2026) and ABC News correspondent.
- Age: 36. Her birthday is reported as January 5, 1990. ABC’s own December 2023 story called her 33, which fits that date, though no one has published a birth certificate.
- Current status: Out at ABC since April 2026. She’s writing a memoir, Breaking, listed for January 2027 (unverified), and ABC named her replacements in September 2026 (unverified).
- Net worth: Estimated at about $1 million to $1.5 million, with low confidence. No official figure exists, and online salary numbers range from roughly $100,000 to $450,000.
- Family: Husband Eli Norman and three children.
Contents
- What happened at GMA?
- What is she doing now?
- Who replaced her?
- Early life, education and age
- Career history
- What she’s known for covering
- Net worth, salary and income
- Husband, family and children
- Her memoir
- Key facts and FAQs
What happened at GMA?
Status reported on April 1–2, 2026 that ABC News was not renewing her contract. ABC declined to comment, and her last day on the show wasn’t disclosed. Norman confirmed the exit in an April 3 Instagram video. She said her time had been cut short, and that she was heartbroken she never got to say goodbye to viewers on air.
Was she fired? Not in the usual sense. The reporting says her contract expired and ABC chose not to renew it. Some outlets use words like “let go,” “axed” or “ousted,” but the confirmed fact is the non-renewal. Nobody has confirmed why. ABC hasn’t explained and she hasn’t given a reason that I could find. Headlines that claim to reveal “the real reason” are speculation, so this article doesn’t repeat them.
What is she doing now?
Time with her kids. In her own words, she’s worked weekends for her kids’ entire lives, and they now get more of her, which she called worth everything.
Essence Fest. Her X account and a YouTube video describe her as the face of Essence News Now coverage at the July 2026 Essence Festival in New Orleans (unverified, post-cutoff). I found no announcement of a long-term deal.
Commentary online. In roughly July–August 2026 (unverified), she posted videos criticizing how GMA handled an interview with a grieving family and how World News Tonight covered a court ruling against Meta. She also praised parts of ABC’s coverage, so the videos weren’t one-note attacks. An ABC spokesperson defended GMA host Michael Strahan in a statement. Status separately reported a contentious exchange between Norman and ABC over her book, including a cover change after ABC objected to a network photo. All of this is post-cutoff reporting (unverified).
I found no new job at another network. Treat any claim that she’s joined one as unconfirmed.
Who replaced her?
ABC announced on September 9, 2026 (unverified, post-cutoff) that senior political correspondent Rachel Scott would join Whit Johnson on Saturdays from September 12, and Rhiannon Ally would join Gio Benitez on Sundays from September 13. Leslie Lopez was named weekend meteorologist. Instead of one replacement, ABC split the weekend into two anchor teams.
| Era | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 (Norman joins, replacing Dan Harris) | Whit Johnson, Eva Pilgrim, Janai Norman (weekend team) | |
| From May 2023 | Johnson, Norman, Gio Benitez (Benitez replaced Pilgrim, who moved to GMA3) | |
| From Sept 2026 (unverified) | Whit Johnson and Rachel Scott | Gio Benitez and Rhiannon Ally |
Early life, education and age
Where she’s from. Most sources say she was born in South Africa. Legit.ng adds that she was raised in DeKalb, Illinois, which explains why one outlet calls her an “Illinois native.” The two claims fit together. The same profile, a single secondary source, says she edited her high school newspaper and worked as a production assistant at KMIZ, the ABC affiliate in Columbia, Missouri, before graduating. Her parents’ details aren’t public.
Durban as a birth city appears only on aggregator sites. Some of those also claim she grew up in Durban and moved to the U.S. at 18. That contradicts the Illinois account and comes with no source, so I’ve left it out.
Education. She graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Several profile sites add that she studied psychology and mass communication, which is plausible but secondary-sourced only.
Her age. Secondary profile sites list her birthday as January 5, 1990, which makes her 36 as of October 2026. ABC’s own December 30, 2023 story described her as 33, which only works if she turned 34 a few days later. Still, no one has published an official birth record, so treat the exact date as reported, not certified. A few pages still say 35, which is out of date.
Career history
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2011 | Starts at ABC News in New York as a NewsOne intern |
| Early local TV | Reporter and fill-in anchor in Columbia (MO), Tulsa and Orlando |
| Nov 2014 | Joins WFTV Orlando from Fox23 Tulsa; covered the Pulse nightclub shooting |
| 2016 | Rejoins ABC News as a Washington reporter, covering the Trump administration and Capitol Hill |
| Nov 2018 | Named co-anchor of World News Now and America This Morning, succeeding Diane Macedo, alongside Kendis Gibson |
| Oct 2019 | Hosts Pop News when weekend GMA adds a second hour |
| Sept 2020 | Moves to a GMA correspondent role |
| July 2022 | Becomes weekend GMA co-anchor, replacing Dan Harris; ABC News president Kim Godwin praised her versatility |
| April 2026 | Contract not renewed |
The overnight job covered heavy news: Harry and Meghan stepping back from royal duties, the death of Jeffrey Epstein and the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian. Some sites date her co-anchor promotion to 2023, but Variety’s 2022 report says otherwise. Outlets also describe her as host of Oh Baby!, a wildlife show on ABC stations. It’s unclear whether that continued after her exit.
What she’s known for covering
Maternal health. Her own site says she prioritized reporting on the maternal mortality crisis facing Black women. In October 2023 she was the opening keynote speaker at the Parents as Teachers international conference, where she was set to discuss that crisis and mental health stigma.
Mental health. ABC’s bio lists a Hulu special, Breaking the Mental Health Stigma for Black Women, in which she spoke about her own challenges. Her site describes a GMA Digital roundtable she led on the same topic.
Natural hair. She told NBCU Academy that she started wearing wigs at work during pregnancy to protect her natural hair. She also said that when she first anchored the overnight show, the stylist convinced her to unbraid her hair and wear it as it was.
I couldn’t verify any major journalism awards, and pages that hint at recognition don’t name any.
Net worth, salary and income
Estimated net worth: roughly $1 million to $1.5 million. Confidence: low. That’s the cluster most sites land on, but none shows a source.
| Claim | What a site says |
|---|---|
| Net worth | $500,000 (that site also calls her a CNN correspondent) |
| Net worth | $1 million |
| Net worth | $1.2–1.5 million |
| Net worth | $1–4 million |
| Salary | About $100,000 |
| Salary | $200,000–$400,000 |
| Salary | $250,000–$450,000 |
ABC doesn’t publish what its anchors earn. One bio site says her GMA pay was around $100,000 a year, well below veterans like Michael Strahan and Robin Roberts. The same article’s headline calls her one of GMA’s highest-paid anchors, so even that page contradicts itself.
What’s actually documented about her income:
| Source | Evidence | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| ABC salary | Staff anchor for years | Undisclosed |
| Speaking | Opening keynote at a 2023 conference; listed with a speakers bureau | Undisclosed |
| Memoir | One World deal; pre-orders open | Advance undisclosed |
Aggregators also claim brand deals. I found none verified.
TV Insider, citing The U.S. Sun, reported her New Jersey home went on the market for $3.2 million on April 30. That’s one secondary report, and a listing price says nothing about a mortgage or her actual net worth. What did change in 2026 is that her ABC salary ended. Whether she received a payout is unknown.
Husband, family and children
Her husband is Eli Norman, according to multiple outlets including PopCulture and Hello. They reportedly met on Tinder, got engaged in 2017 and married on May 5, 2018 in Barbados. The Barbados date comes from one secondary source, so verify it before quoting. TV Insider calls him “Charlie,” which looks like the outlier.
She has three children, two sons and a daughter. A son was reportedly born in 2017 and a daughter in 2020. The third child, a boy, was born in November 2023, which ABC reported on December 30, 2023. She had announced the pregnancy live on air in April 2023, and her co-anchors threw her an on-air baby shower that November. She then took roughly 40 days off the grid to recover and bond with the baby. Her children’s names aren’t public.
Her memoir
Breaking: News, Barriers, and Stigmas—a Memoir of Choosing Myself is published by One World. Penguin Random House lists a $30 hardcover (272 pages), an ebook and an eight-hour audiobook read by Norman herself, all with a release date of January 5, 2027 (unverified, future date). Pre-orders are open. One outlet says the book deal dates to January 2025; another says she announced it May 8, 2026.
The publisher describes a mental health episode that ended in a psychiatric admission and a borderline personality disorder diagnosis. That comes from her own book’s description.
Key facts
- Born: January 5, 1990, per secondary sources; consistent with ABC’s 2023 age report
- Age: 36
- Born/raised: South Africa; raised in DeKalb, Illinois (single source)
- Education: University of Missouri-Columbia
- At ABC: 2011 intern; rejoined 2016; GMA Weekend co-anchor July 2022 to April 2026
- Net worth: Estimated $1M–$1.5M (low confidence)
- Family: Husband Eli Norman; three children
- Height: No reliable figure. Some sites list 5 ft 9 in with no source.
- Real name: Nothing suggests a name other than Janai Norman.
- Next: Breaking, January 5, 2027 (unverified)
FAQs
How old is Janai Norman?
She’s 36 as of October 2026, based on a reported January 5, 1990 birthday that matches ABC’s 2023 age report.
Was Janai Norman fired?
Reports say her contract expired and ABC didn’t renew it. Some outlets say “let go,” but no reason has been given.
What is Janai Norman doing now?
She’s spending more time with her kids, working on her memoir, posting commentary online and, in July 2026 (unverified), appeared in Essence Fest coverage. No new network job has been announced.
Who replaced her on GMA Weekend?
Rachel Scott (Saturdays) and Rhiannon Ally (Sundays), announced in September 2026 (unverified).
What is her net worth and salary?
About $1 million to $1.5 million by estimate, with low confidence. ABC doesn’t publish pay, and online salary guesses run from about $100,000 to $450,000.
Who is her husband, and how many kids does she have?
Eli Norman, per multiple outlets. They have three children: two sons and a daughter.
Where did Janai Norman grow up?
She was born in South Africa and, per one profile, raised in DeKalb, Illinois.
Does Janai Norman wear wigs?
She has said she began wearing wigs at work during pregnancy to protect her natural hair, and she’s also spoken about wearing it natural on air.
Conclusion
The career and the April 2026 exit are well documented. The money isn’t: the $1M–$1.5M net worth and every salary figure are estimates, and the sites repeating them mostly copy each other. Her memoir, due in January 2027 (unverified), is the likeliest place for her own account of what happened.
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Shahzad is the founder and lead writer at WorthRada. He writes about celebrity net worth, biographies, careers, income, and success stories, with a focus on providing clear, well-researched, and reliable information.
