Diane Sawyer stops George Stephanopoulos from taking over World News

OHMYGOSSIP — Diane Sawyer has told her bosses she doesn’t want to be replaced by George Stephanopoulos when she decides to retire from ABC’s World News. Diane wants the next anchor to be David Muir — according to a new report.

“Diane has been telling her bosses in the news division at ABC that George would be a terrible replacement for her when the time comes for her to hang it up,” a source said.

“She doesn’t think viewers in primetime like his interviewing style, and the tone of his delivery. He can come across as very condescending.

“The only suitable replacement in Diane’s opinion is David Muir. They are very close friends, and Diane has taken David under her wing, and truly mentored him. She has become one of his biggest champions and supporters.

“David has been the anchor of the weekend edition of World News, and he frequently substitutes for Diane. When George fills in for Diane, the ratings actually go down, and you can’t argue with the numbers.”

Stephanopoulos’ contract is up in January, and he wants to ditch Good Morning America for primetime.

He has made no secret that he no longer wants to do morning television. George wants to replace Diane Sawyer when she decides to hang it up, but who knows when that will be? His strengths are doing hard news, and has been extremely successful as the host of the ABC’s Sunday morning show, This Week,” a source previously said.

“However, viewers also love George on GMA, and the news division doesn’t want to rock the boat with replacing him on the show. A huge portion of George’s contract talks will involve guarantees that he be the heir apparent to replace Diane.”