David Muir is more than just what you see.

Yes, he is America’s most-watched news anchor, having led the news desk of ABC’s World News Tonight since 2014. He has covered hundreds of significant events, including the assassination of Osama bin Laden and live coverage from Vatican City when Cardinal Robert Prevost became the 267th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

Through his reporting on climate change in South Sudan and Madagascar, he has also contributed to an all-time record of $9 million in donations to the World Food Program. Most recently, he was chosen for the 2025 Time 100 list, with a tribute from his friend and mentor Diane Sawyer.

Despite his many triumphs and long career in journalism, Muir, 51, says he feels most at ease away from the workplace.

“I’d say my most comfortable element is being outside, covered in mud like this weekend,” he tells PEOPLE in an interview on May 27 after a Memorial Day weekend vacation to his homeland in upstate New York. “The rain was pouring, and I relished every moment of it.”

It’s a part of Muir that he doesn’t often get to show off when covering the news, but it keeps him feeling entire and connected to his origins.

“I have a German short-haired pointer, and for him, the biggest event of the weekend was discovering there was a beaver who had begun to build a dam inside the little boathouse,” he recalls. “So I spent more time at nightfall standing on the dock with the dog, who was waiting for a glimpse of this beaver coming out of the boathouse, than I did doing anything else.”

“When you’re out there on the lake, smelling the same air you did when you were riding your BMX bike as a child, there’s something extremely motivating and meaningful about it. “You just feel like you’re home again,” he says. “I’ve never felt happier.”

Looking back on his background, it’s no wonder that Muir was meant to be where he is now, especially considering he grew up idolizing previous anchors.

“When I was 12 years old, I was a nerd who felt a strong attraction to the news,” he recalls. “I remember being outside, playing with the rest of the kids in the neighborhood, and being the only kid who would go inside when the local news came on, and then watching Peter Jennings, who I thought was the James Bond of the evening news, the globetrotter.”

Muir saw Jennings as an “opportunity to get out there beyond your backyard and see the world.” Muir was intrigued by the notion. “There was always this incredible pull,” he jokes.

After deciding to pursue journalism, Muir claims he began “writing letters to the local reporters in my town.” He enthusiastically accepted their internship offers.

“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,” he remembers. “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.”

“All these years later, I look back on that as a defining moment in my life,” he says. “I dove headfirst, and I was just lucky enough to have people around me who weren’t turned off by the kid intern.”

Muir’s career took off after graduating from Ithaca College with a journalism degree, when he began working at local news stations in Syracuse and Boston.

In 2003, Muir joined ABC News as a World News Now anchor and has remained there ever since, progressing through the ranks until he succeeded Sawyer on World News Tonight in September 2014.

Muir still can’t accept his predicament. “It’s strange because [Sawyer] would say, and has told me, ‘I’m not your mentor. I am your friend. I am your coworker. We are both reporters. And I recall the first morning I arrived at that Times Square studio, sitting next to Diane Sawyer. I vividly recall gazing at her, struggling to comprehend her presence in the chair beside me.

In his tenth year at World News Tonight, Muir believes that his fans understand his true nature, yet he still has one or two secrets to share.

“I generally have jeans on from the waist down,” he reveals of his broadcast uniform. “So the first thing we attempt to do is make sure my jeans are not visible… I try not to take myself too seriously, but I often joke, ‘Don’t tell anyone about the jeans and boots’!”

He also admits to confirming the date with his floor director, Michelle, before appearing on television. “Because the news is coming at us so quickly, 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’,” he continues, laughing.

Muir laughs and accepts his obsessive audience, especially those who post thirst edits on TikTok (a Tumblr page named “Gimme Gimme Muir” exists).

“People will send TikTok videos simply because they are laughing out loud at them, making fun of me, and asking, ‘When did you become Daddy?’ So I’m not sure if it happens when you reach 50 or not, but I’ll take that as a compliment, I suppose,” he quips. “Anyone who works with me understands how unpleasant it is for me to even put on the tux. So the fact that I survived such events still surprises me without making me appear like a complete dork.

“So maybe it’s lost on me, but I guess Daddy’s better than the alternative,” he says, laughing.

Despite the internet engagement, he claims that his admirers may prefer his dog, Axel, to him.

“I love when people come up to me and interact because I feel like if they’re going to be with me every night on the news, they do know me, and they have every right to come up and sort of check in with me,” according to him. “But I’ve had the same dog walker for six years. And so I enjoy hearing tales about how, even when the dog walker is out in public, people will ask, ‘Is that David Muir’s dog?’ It puts everything in perspective. “The dog is always the most important.”

“I think [he’s] more [famous],” he adds of his dog’s popularity. “He deserved to be. And he has no idea, making it even more unique.”

Now that Muir has accomplished so much in his life, what lies ahead? He has an effortless response.

“I believe it’s crucial to consistently strive for improvement,” he expresses to me. “The moment you stop learning, the moment you’re no longer curious, the moment you don’t believe you can be better than you were a night ago or a week ago is probably a time to sort of check yourself.”

“I still feel like I’m that kid racing into that local newsroom all those years ago,” according to him. “I adore my work. I enjoy the individuals I interview and meet, and I believe that journalism is more vital than ever.”

World News Tonight with David Muir airs weeknights at 6:30 p.m. ET on ABC.