Willie Geist and Christina Geist in 2022.Photo:Bryan Bedder/Getty
Bryan Bedder/Getty
Sunday TodayandMorning JoeanchorWillie Geistand his wife, Christina Geist, have been together since they were teenagers.
They met in sixth grade and their friendship eventually turned into love. “I have a very romantic secret. I made out with her on the roof of my friend’s house with some warm Bud Light in the red-hot fall of 1991,” Willie recalled of the big turning point in their relationship during a 2022 appearance onToday. “We were like, was that a thing, or was it just a moment? And it turned out it was a thing.”
Fast-forward several decades later and the pair are happily married, living in New York City and raising their teenage children, Lucie and George.
“This is a long game. We’ve been partners in life since such a young age since — long before having children or having the careers we have now — and we’ll be partners on the other side of it,” Christina toldGlamour. “I can look backward and appreciate how far we’ve come, and I can look forward to all the chapters that are coming down the road.”
According to Willie, laughter keeps them going even in hard times. “Something funny happens and you get to enjoy it with the girl you saw across the room in sixth grade, who’s every bit the person you’d hoped they would be 33 years later," he added.
She’s from New Jersey
Willie Geist and Christina Geist at Ridgewood High School in New Jersey.Willie Geist Instagram
Willie Geist Instagram
Christina spent her youth in Ridgewood, New Jersey, and attended Vanderbilt University in Tennessee alongside Willie.
According toher website, she grew up with a “loud, loving family.”
She’s a children’s book author
Christina and Willie Geist in 2019.Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty
Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty
Christina is aNew York Times-bestselling children’s book author, entrepreneur and brand strategist. Her first book,Buddy’s Bedtime Battery, was published in 2016. She’s written several more books for kids, includingSorry Grown-Ups, You Can’t Go To School!andBuddy’s New Buddy.
She previously worked for several large agencies and Johnson & Johnson and went on to found two companies after taking a short break to raise her children.
Christina and Willie were good friends as kids
Willie Geist and Christina Geist in high school.Willie Geist Instagram
Willie and Christina attended middle school, high school and college together, but were friends before anything turned romantic. “For people who don’t know, I met my wife in the sixth grade,” Willie toldHoda Kotbof their love story. “We went to high school together, we went to college together, but we were buddies first. And I think even today, all these years later, that’s the foundation of our relationship is that we were always friends.” (At first, Christina had a crush on Willie’s best friend, who later served as best man at their wedding.)
The two immediately noticed one another, young as they were. “On the first day, Christina had a bunch of friends from elementary school, whereas I was the new kid from the other side of town, standing alone and scanning the room,” Willie remembered. “And I know it sounds like revisionist history, but this is true. I really remember thinking in my little 11-year-old brain, ‘Oh, she seems cute and cool.’ And it turns out I was right.”
Christina and Willie dated in high school, even going to prom as each other’s dates, and continued their relationship in college, though they did break up in attempts to date other people during their time at Vanderbilt University. They briefly split after graduation as they pursued post-grad careers, butreunited in 2000.
“I was so tired about having that same old conversation about how much we loved each other that I said yes,'' Christina toldTheNew York Timesof their on-again, off-again relationship status. This time it stuck, and the two got engaged shortly after.
Willie proposed to her in their homeroom class
Willie Geist and Christina Geist at their college graduation in 1997.Willie Geist Instagram
In 2002, Willie popped the question to Christina in their middle school homeroom — a full circle moment for the school sweethearts.
They were married in Puerto Rico
Willie Geist and Christina Geist on their wedding day in 2003.Willie Geist Instagram
Willie and Christina tied the knot on May 24, 2003, in Puerto Rico, though their destination wedding didn’t go quite according to plan.
They have two children
Willie Geist, Christina Geist and their children in 2016.Bryan Bedder/Getty
Christina and Willie have two kids: daughter Lucie was born in 2007 and a son George joined the family in 2009.
According to Willie, the childrenhelp him prepfor important celebrity interviews. “I’m definitely pushing 50 at this point, so when somebody who is on the younger end of celebrities come in, I do a gut check with my kids,” he told PEOPLE.
“They said I had to interviewMachine Gun Kelly, which turned out to be one of the best experiences we’ve had on the show, challenging and fun. And then there wasSydney Sweeney, when I mentioned it, my daughter was like, ‘Oh my God, you’re going to have Sydney Sweeney on?!’ "
They split their parenting duties into morning and night
Willie Geist and Christina Geist in 2014.Manny Hernandez/WireImage
Manny Hernandez/WireImage
In early 2023, Christina praised her husband’sdedication to his familydespite his hectic early-morning schedule. “Today’s word is STRENGTH. This is WG for me,” she wrote on Instagram of her husband. “Not because he’s physically strong. But because he relentlessly stands up for those he loves. Even if that looks like sitting on the kitchen floor petting a sleeping puppy together after finishing the dishes last night. Quietly focusing on me, listening to my day and a challenge I’m facing - even though his day began at 4am and carried its own story - and told me (for the thousandth time) what I know in my heart … but still needed to hear.”
They celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary in 2023
Willie Geist and Christina Geist in 2017.Kristin Callahan/Ace/Shutterstock
Kristin Callahan/Ace/Shutterstock
Christina and Willie have been married for over two decades, and Christinamarked their momentous 20th anniversarywith a heartfelt post and a sweet photo from their wedding day.
Willie shared the same photo witha moving captionof his own. “Turns out even the wildest fantasy of what our life would look like 20 years after this photo was taken has fallen well short of the reality,” he wrote. “We are so lucky.”
source: people.com
