The Major Regret Barbara Walters Once Expressed About Her Career
To say the late Barbara Walters had an illustrious career would be an understatement. The celebrated news anchor, who passed on December 30, has spent five decades in the spotlight and was revered for paving the way for women to succeed in the broadcasting space.
Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, underscored in a statement the impact Walters had in the industry. "Barbara was a true legend, a pioneer not just for women in journalism but for journalism itself. She was a one-of-a-kind reporter who landed many of the most important interviews of our time," he wrote. Per ABC News, Walters was a recipient of many an award for her outstanding work in journalism, including the Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. She was an Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame inductee for her work and in 2003, she received a Daytime Emmy Award for co-founding, co-hosting, and co-producing the hit TV show "The View."
While Walters is touted as a trailblazer, she once expressed a list of regrets about her career, chief of which is not being a more present mother to her only daughter, Jackie.
Barbara Walters wanted more time with her family
If she could only turn back time, Barbara Walters would have wanted to spend more of her time with her only daughter, Jackie, who she adopted with her ex-husband, Lee Guber. Speaking with ABC News in 2014, Walters confessed to being so focused on her work that it compromised her most important relationships.
"I was so busy with a career. It's the age-old problem," she admitted. "And, you know, on your deathbed, are you going to say, 'I wish I spent more time in the office?' No. You'll say, 'I wish I spent more time with my family,' and I do feel that way. I wish I had spent more time with my Jackie." At the time, she also opened up about her ex-husbands (she was married thrice.) "I don't think that I was very good at marriage," the news anchor added. "It may be that my career was just too important. It may have been that I was a difficult person to be married to, and I just seem to be better alone."
In an interview with Piers Morgan in 2013 on CNN, Walters also got real on the topic of expanding her family. "I regret not having more children. I would have loved to have had a bigger family," she said (via HuffPost). Sadly, Walters struggled with infertility issues — but in a beautiful turn of events, it's what ultimately led her to Jackie. "Oh, I adore my daughter," she mused in an interview with OWN.