Good Morning America host Robin Roberts has addressed her absence from the show this week - and it’s all been for a good cause.
Celebrating her 20th anniversary with her wife, Amber Laign, Roberts is on vacation in Rwanda, according to her Instagram.
The Independent has learned that Roberts will return to GMA alongside co-hosts Michael Strahan and George Stephanopoulos next week.
“We’re in #Rwanda as guests of @inmuwetrust_ & @giantsofafrica celebrating young basketball players across Africa. Every last Saturday in the month in Rwanda is a national day of service!! Wonderful way for the two of us to celebrate 20 years as a couple…it certainly has been an adventure! #goafestival,” Roberts, 64, wrote in a post earlier this week.
Laign, too, has posted from Rwanda, sharing some of the couple’s joyous moments from their trip.
“20 Years, 20 Countries, One Incredible Journey ... Robin and I celebrated our 20-year anniversary in a way we’ll never forget — in Rwanda, with Giants of Africa, surrounded by the energy, joy, and spirit of youth from 20 African countries. From dancing to community service that touched our hearts, this experience reminded us what truly matters: connection, purpose, and giving back. We’re beyond grateful to have shared this milestone in such a powerful and uplifting way. Thank you, Giants of Africa, for letting us be part of something so meaningful,” Laign, 50, wrote, adding the hashtag “20 years strong.”
Two years after its inaugural edition, the Giants of Africa festival returned in 2025, bringing together over 300 men and women from 20 African nations for one week. There, they engage in activities spanning basketball, culture, education and entertainment while fostering a sense of community.
As the GMA host said, Roberts and Laign are guests of Masai Ujiri, the former president of the NBA’s Toronto Raptors.
Roberts and Laign celebrated 20 years together July 26. After meeting on a blind date in 2005, they married in September 2023.
However, Roberts did not publicly acknowledge Laign until December 2013. In a year-end Facebook post, she thanked her “longtime girlfriend” for her support as Roberts recovered from a bone marrow transplant that saved her life.
Roberts has since addressed their relationship more publicly, admitting she had been “afraid” to share her sexuality in part because of her Christian faith.
During a 2024 episode of bestselling author Jamie Kern Lima’s The Jamie Kern Lima Show podcast, Roberts explained that she had been fearful of the ramifications coming out would have on the network.
“It’s not the ‘Robin Roberts Show,’ it’s Good Morning America,” she said. “And there are so many people whose livelihoods depend on the success of our show. And so, if I do something that hurts the show, that hurts them.”
She added that she was worried people would have a hard time accepting her intersecting identities as both “gay and a Christian.”
Roberts shared that shortly after announcing her relationship with Amber, she received a “beautiful letter from the National Office at the Presbyterian Church” that was “fully supportive.”
“Then I think about all those years I wasted, worried, needless worry,” she said. “You know everything about me. And I have nothing to hide and to still be, still be embraced. I am blessed and highly favored. And I’m so grateful.”
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