Lara Spencer Celebrates Returning to ‘GMA’ After Mother’s Death
What To Know
- Lara Spencer briefly returned to Good Morning America after her mother’s recent death.
- Spencer appeared on the show to premiere the trailer for her new competition series, That Thirfting Show.
- Fans shared their support for Spencer — whose GMA return date has not been confirmed — via social media.
Lara Spencer is sharing her appreciation for her Good Morning America colleagues in the wake of her mother Carolyn von Seelen’s death.
Spencer has been absent from the ABC morning show since announcing her mother’s death via Instagram on February 16. She did, however, make a brief appearance on the show’s Tuesday, February 24, episode to debut the trailer for her new home design competition series, That Thrifting Show.
Spencer celebrated her GMA return via Instagram on Thursday, February 26, by sharing behind-the-scenes photos of herself and Sam Champion on set in Miami. “Finally coming out of the fog of grief and so grateful to my GMA family-making me feel warm and loved-even in 42 degrees temps in Florida,” she wrote. “No one I would rather be stranded with than this guy. We huddled around the heat lamp, collaborated on making the show as fun and energetic as possible, and even took a page from Punch the monkey’s book-giving our 🦧 stuffie a squeeze when needed.”
She concluded the post by writing, “The pictures tell the story. Thank you GMA family. I love you. 💕.”
Champion shared his love for Spencer in the post’s comments, stating, “The BEST time with you always ❤️.” Fans sent their own well-wishes, with one writing, “Prayers to you Lara. Heard so many wonderful things about your mom. She lived in my neighborhood. ❤️.”
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Another Instagram user added, “Glad you are taking time for yourself .. it’s so necessary when grieving .. very sorry got the loss of your mom💔😇.” Someone else shared, “So sorry for your loss, Lara. The connection you have with Sam is so fun to watch. Take care.” Another person posted, “Sending so much love to you Lara. Makes me so happy to see you feeling better. Nothing like family 🩷.”
Spencer did not address her mother’s death on Tuesday’s episode of GMA, but did premiere the trailer for That Thrifting Show during the episode’s “Pop News” segment with Champion. She also revealed that GMA would celebrate the show’s debut by hosting their own That Thrifting Show competition.
“We’ll have two teams of interior designers live on GMA, doing it and getting judged by our incredible panel of judges,” she explained to viewers. “So excited for that.” (The 12-episode series will see pairs of design duos compete to transform identical rooms using vintage items and thrift store finds.)
Spencer’s official GMA return date has not been confirmed.
While sharing news of her mother’s death earlier this month, Spencer revealed that her mother had died at the age of 85 while surrounded by her children and her “beloved rescue dog.” She wrote, “One of her favorite [sayings] was ‘don’t be sad it’s over honey—be grateful it happened.’ Sorry mama but there’s no way to not feel the pain of overwhelming sadness at the thought of not having you to share life with each day, but we sure are grateful YOU happened and showered us with your loving warmth and humor.”
Good Morning America, Weekdays, 7a/6c, ABC
That Thrifting Show with Lara Spencer, Thursday, March 19, 9/8c, Freeform, first six episodes streaming next day on Hulu
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