Robin Roberts Returning To ‘GMA’ Full-Time After Labor Day

Robin Roberts is not only starting to feel back to her old self, but she’s almost ready to make her full-time return to Good Morning America.

“I’m really at peace now. I’m not as frightened,” the 52-year-old anchor told People. “I feel 90 percent of myself again, and that’s a great feeling.”

Roberts went on medical leave from GMA almost a year ago to undergo a bone marrow transplant. Doctors hoped the transplant — which she received from her sister, Sally Ann — would help her in her battle with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS, also formerly known as preleukemia), a rare blood marrow and bone disease. Roberts announced her diagnosis in June 2012, almost five years after she won a battle against breast cancer. The transplant was successful.

Since then, Roberts has been back to GMA sporadically, but now she’s ready to come back for good.

“The day after Labor Day I’ll be back to a five-day a week schedule,” she said. “I’m looking forward to it. I want to get back to my full life.”

Roberts recently went on vacation in Maui with a group of friends, where she played tennis for the first time since her transplant.

“To be able to feel stronger and a little more active, it’s great to feel that way again,” Roberts said. She called the vacation “a time of renewal and reflection.” She said she had a picture of a beach in Maui that was her motivation while she was in the hospital.

“So to have all my friend who loved me through this past year there was all I needed,” she said.

In July, Roberts was awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2013 ESPYs. The award recognizes individuals whose contributions reach beyond the sports world. Roberts, who was a star athlete before switching to journalism, became one of ESPN’s first female sports anchors during the ’90s. In her acceptance speech, she said she has “been blessed to achieve things in life” she never could have imagined as a little girl growing up in Mississippi.

“But most of all, I never imagined that I’d be able to be standing here 20 years after Jimmy V’s speech and say that because of everyone who has responded to his challenge, because of all the donations, research and support, mine is one of the lives that’s been saved,” she said.

Robin Roberts will make her full-time return to Good Morning America on Tuesday, September 3.

[Photo credit: Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com]