Maury Povich is a daytime TV legend. After beginning his career in radio and being a news reporter and sportscaster, Maury, 84, was the original host of the tabloid show A Current Affair on Fox. In 1991, he began hosting his own talk show, which became very well-known for its segment on paternity tests. In addition to its many regular viewers, the show also became often parodied for its over-the-top nature. In 2022, Maury announced that he’d retire after 31 seasons.
Despite stepping away from television last year, Maury will be making an appearance at the 2023 Daytime Emmy Awards to present the Gold and Silver Circle honorees. His wife Connie Chung, 77, will also be making an appearance for the In Memoriam segment. Maury and Connie have been married for many years, and they’re each veterans of the TV news world. Find out more about Maury and his marriage to Connie here.
How Did Maury Meet Connie?
Maury and Connie first met relatively early in each of their careers. They first crossed paths when she began working at WTTG in 1969. Despite their initial meeting, they didn’t immediately hit it off and have love at first sight. “In 1969, I was a copygirl at a little TV station in Washington, D.C. and he was a big star and I was just a kid,” Connie told People in an October 2020 interview. “I would rip the wire copy off the machine and give it to Mr. Povich. He was very gruff and very matter-of-fact. He never looked up. I kept thinking, ‘Maybe someday he’ll acknowledge that I’m a human being.'”
Connie left the TV station after two years, becoming a Washington correspondent for the CBS Evening News. The two reconnected in 1977, and by that point, Connie was a well-established journalist. The two of them fell in love when Maury moved to Los Angeles. “Connie was the big anchor star at the CBS affiliate and I was her co-act before they cleaned house. Because Connie was the only person I actually knew in Los Angeles, I always said the way to get to Connie’s heart is first, she pities you, and then she can love you. She pitied the fact that I was fired,” he told People.
Luckily, Connie’s love was true, and the couple ended up getting married in 1984, 15 years after they first met at the Washington TV station. The pair have remained married ever since.
Connie Is a Veteran TV Journalist
While Maury has become very popular for his talk show, Connie is perhaps even more famous. She’s been an anchor and reporter for many major news networks over the years. She’s reported for national news networks CBS, NBC, ABC, and MSNBC. Many of her career highlights were with CBS, and she’s also had her own shows Eye to Eye With Connie Chung and Connie Chung Tonight. During her career, she interviewed many high profile people, including Kathleen Gingrich and Magic Johnson.
Maury & Connie Have One Son Together
Over a decade after getting married, Maury and Connie became parents together, when they adopted their son Matthew Jay in 1995. The talk show host also has two daughters from his previous marriage.
What Have They Said About Each Other?
In addition to being beloved TV personalities, Maury and Connie have shown that they’re totally head over heels for one another still almost 40 years into their marriage. In the above-mentioned People profile, Maury admitted that when the pair get into an argument, he lets it go after he wakes up the next morning, although Connie did admit to “hold[ing] grudges.”
Despite that small difference, Maury did tell the magazine that he wouldn’t trade any moment with Connie for the world. “We’ve always respected each other’s careers and we’ve always respected each other’s space and values,” he told the outlet. “There’s no need for any do-overs. Maybe that’s the reason why we’re still married.”
Connie had a similar comment. “I would go back and relive every moment,” she said.
They Co-Hosted a Show Together
While Maury and Connie are both very successful on their own, they did briefly come together for a short-lived weekend news show on MSNBC. They had a six-month run with their program Weekends With Maury and Connie in 2006.
Maury’s First Marriage
Connie was not Maury’s first wife. Prior to reconnecting with her in 1977, the talk show host was wed to Phyllis Minkoff from 1962 to 1979.