Maury Povich is leaning into one of the jokes he made popular during his syndicated talk show run. In a recent interview, the longtime TV host said his decades-long lifestyle — which now includes splitting time between Florida, New York, and Montana — is only possible because of his wife, veteran journalist Connie Chung.
When comedian Adam Friedland jokingly called him a “gold digger,” during an Interview magazine sit-down, Povich did not hesitate.
“Absolutely,” Povich said, before revealing just how different their careers looked when they first married. “My wife was making 10 times what I was making when we got married.”
Chung was already one of the biggest names in television news by the time they tied the knot in 1984. The two first met in 1969 at WTTG-TV in Washington, D.C., where Povich was an established reporter, and Chung was a young copy girl just starting out.
Chung has previously recalled that Povich barely noticed her. “He was very gruff and very matter-of-fact,” she said, according to People. “He never looked up.”
After two years at the station, Chung left Washington and began building the career that would eventually make her a pioneer in broadcast journalism.
By the late 1970s, the balance had shifted. Chung was the lead anchor at KNXT, the CBS-owned station in Los Angeles, while Povich joined the station as her co-anchor.
Years later, Povich admitted he was “the second banana to Connie” during that period. Chung went on to become the first woman to co-anchor CBS Evening News and the first Asian American to anchor a major network newscast.
Their relationship developed slowly while both were building demanding careers. They dated for seven years before getting married and often lived in different cities while pursuing new jobs. In 2005, they reunited professionally by co-hosting MSNBC’s Weekends with Maury and Connie.
Povich has long joked that he became “Mr. Chung,” but he has also made clear that he never felt threatened by his wife’s success. Chung, for her part, has said she could not have built her career without his support. The couple adopted their son, Matthew, in 1995, and Povich also has two daughters from his first marriage.
Even after more than four decades together, both say the key to their marriage is giving each other room to remain independent. They keep separate hobbies and different friend groups, but they share an understanding that comes from spending a lifetime in the same business.
“If we’re arguing, if there’s a big argument going on, when your head hits the pillow at night, it’s over,” Povich said last year. “You start fresh the next day.”
