Good Morning America coming to USC

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) – Good Morning America is coming to Columbia on Tuesday, March 15th. GMA’s Rise and Shine crew will be at the University of South Carolina starting at 7 a..m. 

The show is also a homecoming for GMA’s Kenneth Moton, Eva Pilgrim, and Sarah Messer who are all University of South Carolina alums. 

“Everyone knows we’re from South Carolina. We make sure everyone knows we’re from South Carolina and that South Carolina has better peaches from Georgia. We just want to show off what’s great about South Carolina,” says Pilgrim. 

Kenneth Moton says Good Morning America will be showing the rest of the country what South Carolina has to offer. “We’re talking about all the great places in South Carolina and the great people as well, Coach Dawn Staley — legendary.”

USC Women’s Basketball Head Coach Dawn Staley will also be interviewed.

“To bring a national audience, to bring Good Morning America here to Columbia to my alma matter is so surreal,” says Moton. 

While in Columbia Pilgrim says they’ve got to hit the hot spots.

“All of the stops you have to make when you’re back in Columbia. Zesto I haven’t been to yet, i’m definitely going to have to stop there. I have to get a sandwich from Groucho’s, and I think we’re all having dinner at Blue Marlin,” says Pilgrim.  

Moton and Pilgrim say while students at USC neither imagined they would be working for Good Morning America. They both share advice to journalism students.

“I talk about the University of South Carolina and South Carolina a lot because I will never forget where I came from.  And so the lesson to any young person who wants to do this job after they graduate just remember the place that gave you the skills to go out there into the world. I do that every single day and it’s the reason I’m back here today,” says Moton. 

“Just believe in yourself, it’s all possible. It’s just a matter of how hard you want to work for it and how hard you want to push to get there,” says Pilgrim. 

Good Morning America begins at 7 a.m. on ABC Columbia News.