Sports journalist, Josh Elliot has enjoyed a very successful career as a news anchor.  The 43-year-old California native earned his first noteworthy gig in 2004 when he joined ESPN as a panelist for Around the Horn and Jim Rome is Burning, as well as a guest co-host on the morning talk show, Cold Pizza. Throughout the years, Elliot has made several career moves which have helped him achieve mainstream fame.  In 2011, he joined the cast of ABC’s Good Morning America before leaving in 2014 to take a job with NBC Sports.  Elliot’s work has been regarded in high esteem and he has earned a number of accolades throughout his career. While many people have mixed feelings about Elliot, and some have even referred to him as a “diva,” there is no denying his work ethic and dedication. Here are five things you probably didn’t know about Josh Elliot.

4. Josh Elliot is a father.

In 2009, Josh Elliot and his then-wife, Priya Narang, welcomed their daughter, Sarina, into the world.  Since the birth of his child, Elliot has been a proud father and stated: “…life changed forever. Sarina is the greatest gift I’ll ever get, every day. I never knew I could cry like this, every day. Life’s perfect for her existence, every day. As someone who was adopted (as was my brother and sister), I was totally unprepared for the all-consuming bond of blood-relation, of someone sprung from…me.”

3. Josh Elliot is engaged.

In September 2014, news broke that Josh Elliot and his girlfriend of two years, ABC reporter, Liz Cho were engaged to be married.  Sources close to the couple say that the engagement happened spot of the moment while the two were on vacation.  The couple’s relationship was initially confirmed back September 2012 after sources claimed to have seen Elliot “sneaking out of Liz’s apartment way early in the morning.” Elliot has shared that he feels “blessed” in regards to his engagement; however, a date has not yet been set for the wedding.

2. Josh Elliot believes NBC Sports is the best place for him.

Many fans were shocked when Josh Elliot announced that he was leaving ABC’s Good Morning America to take a position at NBC sports.  However, Elliot who felt like he was making the best possible choice for himself and his career stated: “Coming here was the best decision for me, but it was a decision that was tough to make. It was bittersweet. It was made with a degree of melancholy and it was made with a heavy heart. If a day goes by that I’m not on television, I don’t look at it as a lesser day, nor do I look at changing from a news world to a sports world as any sort of step other than a step in a new direction. The ability to join this team – to be the rookie on this team – is really what I want for myself personally.”  However, while Elliot insists that the choice to leave was a personal one, some speculate that his choice stems from the fact that he received a lot of criticism while appearing on Good Morning America.  Throughout his tenure on the show, several reports surfaced that Elliot often behaved obnoxiously and had difficulty working with women.

1. Josh Elliot was 13 years-old when his father came out as gay.

After Josh Elliot’s parents divorced, his father revealed that he was gay.  Although Josh’s love for his father never changed, he shared that upon learning that his father was gay, he began to question his own sexuality.  Elliot stated: “‘My first feeling when my father told me was loyalty- thinking “I guess I have to be gay too. Maybe I’m gay.”  Unfortunately, his father passed away suddenly just two years later when Elliot was only 15; however, he says that he is glad that he was able to see his father live a full and “complete” life in the two years between his coming out and passing.  During an interview, Elliot shared his final moment with his father and stated: “The night before he died, I fell asleep on his couch, and he put a blanket over me…I grabbed his hand and for some reason said, ‘Dad, I just want you to know I love you.'” Elliot, who is straight, had been silent about his father throughout most of his career, and explained that he decided to open up because “it had been a huge part of my life that I hadn’t really had a chance to sort of completely own, and it was just one of those moments … It was great to be able to remember him like that, and to think how proud he would’ve been to have been in that audience that night.”  Since his father’s passing, Elliot has been a supporter of LGBT rights, and in 2012, Elliot won the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defemation (GLAAD) award for Outstanding TV Journalism Segment.

(Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation)