Maury Povich is happily admitting to being a “gold digger” when it comes to his wife of 42 years, Connie Chung.
The TV icon, 87, spoke about his marriage in a conversation with comedian Adam Friedland, 38, for Interview magazine last week. After Friedland commented that Povich has the “best life ever” because he lives in a mansion in Montana, the Maury host responded: “Only because I married Connie Chung.”
Friedland then joked that Povich was a “gold digger,” implying that he married the legendary broadcast journalist for her money.
“Absolutely,” Povich responded. “My wife was making 10 times what I was making when we got married. How’s that?”
The couple tied the knot in 1984, seven years before Povich skyrocketed to fame with his tabloid talk show. At the time, Chung was anchoring NBC News at Sunrise and NBC Nightly News on Saturdays.
Povich worked as a reporter and broadcast news anchor for two decades before taking on his TV hosting gig on Maury, which was famous for its paternity tests and on-air drama.
After briefly meeting in 1969, Povich and Chung hit it off when they co-anchored a segment on the Los Angeles CBS affiliate KNXT in 1977; they’ve been together ever since.
They co-anchored together again in 2005 on MSNBC’s weekend news program Weekends with Maury and Connie, which was canceled a year later.
The couple has raised three children throughout their long marriage — Susan and Amy, Povich’s daughters from his first marriage, and Matthew, Povich and Chung’s adopted son.
Povich has long credited Chung for his success.
“I’ve been Mr. Chung for almost 40 years,” Povich said in a CBS interview in 2022. “I mean, if you take a look at it in terms of my career, you could absolutely track that all of my success, my national success, came after I married this woman.”
He added, “Because she settled me, and she encouraged me, and she was a believer in what I had to offer.”
Chung has also been public about her support and adoration for her husband. She presented him with the Daytime Emmys Lifetime Achievement Honor in 2023, just one year after Maury came to an end following 30 seasons on TV.
Last year, Povich launched his own podcast about golf called On Par with Maury Povich, with Chung appearing as the very first guest on the show.
