David Muir is welcomed inside the living rooms of many every evening, as he brings the latest headlines to our attention on World News Tonight. And while he is a very familiar face as a result, the 51-year-old sets himself apart from other fellow reporters and anchors – including his good friend Kelly Ripa and 20/20 co-star Deborah Roberts. This is because despite being in the public eye for decades, David has opted out of talking about his personal life. The news anchor occasionally shares photos of his life on social media – with many adorable pictures of his beloved pet dog, Axel, and occasionally pictures of his parents and sister.

But nothing else is known about David, including his relationship status or his life away from work. This has allowed the star to properly separate his work in the public eye from his personal life. One thing that is known about David, however, is his close friendship with Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos. The star and Kelly go way back, and she even dedicated her book, Live Wire, to him. In 2022, Kelly called him the “backbone and moral compass I need sometimes”.

David has always known that he’s wanted to be a journalist and had ambitions to do so from a young boy. He recently opened up to People about his aspirations as a little boy, and how it made him stand out from his peers. He explained: “I was a nerd who felt this gravitational pull to the news, starting back when I was 12 years old.

David Muir is notoriously private

“I remember being outside, playing with the rest of the kids in the neighborhood and being the only kid who would go inside when the local news came on, and then watching Peter Jennings, who I thought was sort of the James Bond of the evening news, the globetrotter.”

David has always been guarded when it comes to his personal life

He continued to explain that the show resembled an “opportunity to get out there beyond your backyard and see the world.” He said: “There was always this incredible pull.” As a young boy, David even wrote letters to reporters to ask if he could intern for them to gain experience.

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“I began interning, carrying all the equipment — and back then the equipment was huge and heavy — and I’d jump into the back of the cruiser and I was honestly the happiest kid,” David added. “

David with his good friend and fellow ABC star, Kelly Ripa

Most kids were looking forward to summer vacation and I couldn’t wait to get into the back seat of that cruiser all over again. All these years later, I look back on that as a defining moment in my life. I dove headfirst and I was just lucky enough to have people around me who weren’t turned off by the kid intern.”

A rare photo of David away from work

The news reporter grew up in Syracuse, New York, and comes from a loving family. While his parents, Ronald and Pat, separated when he was young, they remained on good terms, and were both there to support his career ambitions. David has previously spoken out fondly about his mom and dad driving him to his internships during his teenage years, and they have been his biggest supporters from day one of his career.