Gio Benitez Biography
Gio Benitez is a 2 times regional Emmy award winning reporter serving as the ABC News Transportation correspondent and a co-anchor of Good Morning America weekend alongside Whit Johnson and Janai Norman. In addition, he is an ABC News correspondent reporting on all ABC News programs including GMA, “World News Tonight with David Muir,” “Nightline” and “20/20”. He joined GMA3 in May 2023 replacing Eva Pilgrim on the weekend editions of GMA.
He got his big break shooting his first story entirely on an iPhone. It was the first time a phone was used for TV. He was also the first reporter to interview a survivor of the 2016 Pulse massacre in Orlando where 49 people died, mostly LGBTQ+ Latinos. The person he interviewed was an ally and a mentor to many of the kids at that nightclub.
Gio Benitez Age
How Old is Gio Benitez; He is 37 years old, he was born in October 1985 in Miami, Florida, US
Gio Benitez Education
Gio holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Anthropology from Florida International University.
Gio Benitez Parents/ Family
Benitez is the son of Javier Benitez and Lourdes Perez. His father Javier is a retired captain of the Florida department of Corrections in Miami while his mother is a customer service manager for Courey International.
His parents immigrated from Cuba, which he says has helped with his reporting on immigrants as he always used that experience and those feelings, those stories to inform his reporting not to dictate how he do that reporting, but he uses it to inform his questioning.
Is Gio Benitez Puerto Rican?
Benitez is of Latino ethnicity of Cuban heritage. His family emigrated from Cuba to the United States before he was born.
Gio Benitez Husband/ Who is Gio Benitez Partner
Gio is married to his husband Tommy DiDario, they have been married since April 2016. The couple began dating in 2015 after meeting on Instagram. They got engaged in September 2016 while they were on a trip to Paris. Less than a year later, in April 2016 they got married in Miami in a 100 year old avocado grove. The ceremony was officiated by Tommy’s sister.
Tommy is a model, actor and TV host and correspondent covering entertainment, lifestyle and inspiring people on Extra TV. He also host ‘I’ve Never Said This Before’ podcast. He has also appeared on Rachael Ray, Entertainment Tonight and The Today Show.
As an actor he appeared on an episode of Broad City season 2 as a hot lawyer, in addition, he played Oskar in the TV movie My Christmas Prince. He has also appeared on Tinsley Mortimer’s reality show on the CW called High Society in 2010. He appeared on six episodes out of the eight on the show because he dated Paul Johnson Calderon.
Does Gio Benitez have Children?
Gio and his partner has no children yet.
Gio Benitez ABC News/ Gio Benitez GMA
Benitez is an ABC News Transportation Correspondent for based in New York and Washington, D.C. covering aviation, railroads, the auto industry, and space for all ABC News programs and platforms. He also co-anchors Good Morning America Saturday & Sunday alongside Janai Norman and Whit Johnson.
He joined ABC News in January 2013 as a correspondent where he reported on all ABC News programs and covered a wide range of stories. In March 2020 he was promoted to transportation correspondent where he has covered aviation during the industry’s near-total collapse in the pandemic as well as space at the onset of America’s private space industry. He has also reported on plane and helicopter crashes as well as train derailments and the dangerous effects of hot cars on children.
In May 2023, he was named as a co-anchor of GMA Weekend alongside Whit Johnson and Janai Norman after Eva Pilgrim and DeMarco Morgan took over GMA3 replacing Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes
Prior to joining ABC News, he was a reporter for WFOR-TV in Miami but he had joined the channel as an investigative producer. He covered the 2012 presidential election and the Trayvon Martin case. He also worked on stories involving Medicare fraud, public safety, and government corruption. He was the first reporter to shoot a TV story entirely with an iPhone.
As a WFOR-TV reporter, he received two regional Emmy Awards (and is an eight-time nominee). He was nominated for his investigative series on alleged police brutality, which resulted in two Miami officers being forced to turn in their guns and badges.
He started at the station as an Emma L. Bowen Foundation work-study scholar. The EBF Fellowship helps place students of color in multi-year paid internships at leading media and tech companies.
Does Gio Benitez Speak Spanish?
Gio speaks Spanish fluently. He is a son of Cuban immigrants and Latino ethnicity.
Gio Benitez Salary
Benitez earns an annual base salary of $500,000 – $750,000. He has also amassed an estimated net worth of around $3 million.