Let’s make one thing clear: Journalist Tamron Hall wants you to know that she’s more than just her work on The Today Show. Now, as Hall prepares to launch an eponymous talk show, she’s opening up about where her career is heading…and she’s not holding back in the least.
For starters, Hall is getting real about her decision to step away from her Today Show gig — arguably the most career-defining job she’s held. “On the outside, it looked like it was all together. ‘Look at her, she’s walking out, her head up.’ My head is never going to be bowed, but I had to pray not to be broken…We are not the biggest job we’ve landed,” she tells Good Housekeeping during a recent interview. “We are not, even with motherhood, I love my son … [but] even he is not the total sum of my journey … I’m not Tamron from the Today show. I’m Tamron.”
But Hall’s role as a mother to son Moses (whom she welcomed in April) will likely shape the content she’ll cover on the forthcoming show. It’s not surprising: After all, Hall was open about her fertility struggles and IVF experience — and now, starting the kind of tough conversations that parents across America must initiate will become a part of her show. That is to say, it’s all not all purely lighthearted fun, and Hall is aware that she’s launching a talk show in what can only be described as a “unique time” in American history.
“If you’re telling your children, this is the worst this country has ever seen, you’re doing a disservice to your children…When people talk about it now and are [like], ‘Would you ever [address tough topics]?’ it’s like ‘Have you ever watched Phil Donahue, Oprah Winfrey, Mike Douglas?’ I point to television history to say, please Google any talk show lineup. It’s not an elimination of anything,” Hall continues.
One topic she won’t tackle head on? Her new marriage to husband Steven Greener. “He wants my show to make it, but he wants our marriage to work and he knows part of that is maintaining this foundation, and him being comfortable with who he is and not pushed into someone he isn’t,” Hall tells Good Housekeeping of the couple’s decision to keep their marriage out of the spotlight.
Hall’s talk show is set to premiere September 9. Based on what the powerhouse is saying, we don’t expect her to leave much off the table, and we can’t wait to tune in and see how she tackles the immense responsibility of starting (and guiding) conversations in today’s crazy climate.
