If you only know Connie Chung as the wife of Maury Povich, you're missing about 90% of the story.
Most people see them today as that cute, bantering couple on TikTok or red carpets—the legendary "You Are Not The Father" guy and his refined journalist wife. But honestly? For a long time, Connie was the bigger star. By a lot.
In the late 80s and early 90s, Connie Chung wasn't just a reporter; she was a cultural phenomenon. She was the first woman to co-anchor the CBS Evening News and the first Asian American to anchor any major network news program. There is a whole generation of Asian American women named "Connie" specifically because their immigrant parents saw her on TV and thought, that’s who I want my daughter to be.
How They Actually Met (It Wasn't Love at First Sight)
The origin story isn't some Hollywood meet-cute. It was 1969 at WTTG-TV in Washington, D.C.
Maury was the established star, the co-anchor of a show called Panorama. Connie? She was a "copy girl." Basically, she was the person running around ripping stories off the teletype machine and handing them to the "real" journalists.
Maury likes to tell a story about how Connie eventually got promoted by literally walking across the street to a bank, finding a teller, and asking her if she wanted a job so Connie could vacate her own seat. It’s a classic "Maury" story—a little dramatic, probably slightly exaggerated, and Connie usually rolls her eyes when he tells it.
They didn't start dating then. Not even close.
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Maury was married to his first wife, Phyllis Minkoff, at the time. They didn't really connect romantically until years later, after Maury’s divorce and after Connie had become a bonafide star in Los Angeles. It was a long-distance thing for a long while. They’d meet up in different cities, drink scotch, and keep their own lives separate. They finally tied the knot in 1984.
The Secret to a 40-Year Marriage
Forty-two years. That’s how long they’ve been together as of 2026. In "famous people years," that’s basically a century.
So, what’s the secret? Connie is pretty blunt about it: they don't get in each other's hair.
In her 2024 memoir, Connie, she explains that they don't try to be the same person. She has her friends. He has his. He likes to "fling his socks" around; she’s a self-admitted neat freak. Maury is a "make up before we go to sleep" kind of guy. Connie? She’ll wake up the next morning still wanting to finish the argument.
"If we're having a fight at night, he wants to make up before we go to sleep. But when I wake up in the morning, I want to keep fighting. I'm not finished." — Connie Chung, PEOPLE (2024).
It’s that friction that keeps things interesting. They also shared a massive amount of professional respect. Maury famously calls himself "Mr. Chung" because he spent years being the one recognized as "Connie Chung’s husband" before Maury became a global juggernaut.
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The Family Nobody Talks About
While Maury spent three decades telling people who the father was, his own family life was much quieter.
He has two daughters from his first marriage, Susan and Amy. Susan is a lawyer-turned-restaurateur who founded Red Hook Lobster Pound in Brooklyn. Amy is an actress who’s popped up in things like Sex and the City.
But the son Maury and Connie share, Matthew Jay Povich, has a different story.
Connie has been incredibly open about their struggle to conceive. She actually "forgot" to have a baby because she was so focused on being the first woman to conquer network news. They tried IVF. It didn't work. In 1995, shortly after Connie’s highly publicized (and messy) exit from CBS, they adopted Matthew.
Funny enough, Matthew didn't follow them into TV. He became a professor of physics and astronomy. As of late 2025, the big family news is that Matthew is finally getting married to his longtime girlfriend, Hunter.
Life After the Cameras Stop Rolling
Maury retired in 2022, but he’s not just sitting on a porch in Montana.
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In 2025, he launched a podcast called On Par with Maury Povich. The first guest? Connie, obviously. They spent 46 minutes roasting each other and talking about the "paternity test bets" Maury used to make with producers.
They spend a lot of their time now in Bigfork, Montana. They even started a local newspaper there called the Flathead Beacon because they couldn't quite get the journalism out of their systems.
Why Connie Still Matters
It’s easy to dismiss her as a "legend of the past," but Connie’s 2024 memoir brought a lot of the "dark side" of 70s and 80s newsrooms to light. She talked about the overt sexism, the "big egos and sharp elbows," and how she had to be twice as good as the men just to get a seat at the table.
She paved the way for every female anchor you see on the air today.
Actionable Takeaways for Fans of the Couple:
- Read the Memoir: If you want the unvarnished truth about the 90s news wars, get Connie: A Memoir. It’s way more "tell-all" than you’d expect from someone so poised.
- Listen to the Podcast: Check out the premiere episode of On Par with Maury Povich (March 2025) to hear their dynamic in real-time. It’s basically a masterclass in how to stay married for 40 years without losing your mind.
- Support Local News: They are big proponents of local journalism; if you’re ever in Montana, the Flathead Beacon is actually a great read and a testament to their post-retirement legacy.
Connie Chung isn't just the wife of a talk show host. She’s the woman who taught America that a daughter of immigrants could tell the country’s stories—and she did it while keeping Maury Povich in line for over four decades.