David Muir talks being ‘uncomfortable’ with appearance over unexpected World News Tonight admission

David Muir’s status as the number one most watched news anchor in the entire country remains solidly in place more than a decade into his tenure as the anchor of World News Tonight.

The journalist, 51, has gone from strength to strength with his broadcasts, most recently even being named to the TIME 100 list of 2025. Although, it turns out there are a few secrets behind the news anchor’s polished veneer.

You may also likeAs it turns out, the usually sleek and suave David is actually a lot more casual during his broadcasts than you might imagine, at least from the waist down.

“I really don’t try to take myself too seriously but I always just joke, ‘Don’t tell anyone about the jeans and the boots!'”During a conversation with People, he confessed: “I generally have jeans on from the waist down,” with regards to his primetime news show.

“So the first thing that we try to do is make sure my jeans aren’t showing,” he joked. “I really don’t try to take myself too seriously but I always just joke, ‘Don’t tell anyone about the jeans and the boots!'”

David also shared that, in contrast to his usually proper and polished appearance, complete with a dapper suit both on the air and off, he actually prefers being in casual set-ups and rocking a muscle tee and shorts over a three-piece.

The ABC News anchor actually prefers a more casual look to the usual suit and tie”Anyone who works with me knows that I am so uncomfortable even having to put on the tux,” he told the publication. “So the fact that I survive those events is still a surprise to me without looking like a total nerd.”

He also joked about being perceived as a “daddy” online, especially by the show’s many viewers, even gaining an ardent following on TikTok and Tumblr. “People will forward TikTok videos, but only because they are laughing out loud at them and making fun of me and saying, ‘When did you become Daddy?'”

“So I don’t know whether that happens when you hit 50 or what, but I’ll take it as a compliment, I think,” David quipped. “Maybe it’s lost on me, but I guess Daddy’s better than the alternative.”

“Anyone who works with me knows that I am so uncomfortable even having to put on the tux.”Another secret from the air? Despite his preparedness, the “lighting speed” of the news sometimes threatens to overwhelm his sense of time. “Because the news is hitting us at lightning speed, I literally will say just before we come on, ‘It’s great to have you Shelly on a Tuesday night?’ And she says, ‘Yes, David, it’s Tuesday.'”

Latest David11 years into his status as the anchor of World News Tonight, David also looked back on his beginnings as a teenage intern at a local Syracuse newsroom. “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.”

The anchor has been the host of “World News Tonight” since September 2014″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,” he tenderly recalled.

“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.” Take a look at his early days on the air in the clip below…

WATCH: David Muir looks and sounds so different in footage from college years