George Stephanopoulos is happily married to wife Ali Wentworth, and the couple are set for a bittersweet milestone at home later this month.
The Good Morning America co-anchor and Go Ask Ali podcast star have been getting used to their new normal at home ever since their beloved youngest daughter Harper, 18, flew the nest to attend college at the end of the summer.
They have been marking many of the “firsts” in their household since becoming empty nesters, and in a few weeks time, they will be marking another one of these bittersweet milestones when they mark their wedding anniversary.
The pair will have been married for 23 years on November 20, and their wedding was certainly a whirlwind! Ali and George had been dating just months before they got engaged, and shortly afterwards they welcomed their two daughters.
In 2001, mutual friends set them up on a blind date and it didn’t take long for them to fall in love. Ali spoke about their love story while at a book signing in Sarasota back in 2012.
“I didn’t care about politics, and figured he’d be the last person I’d be interested in,” Ali said.
“I was holding out for Hugh Grant or Matthew Perry.” After agreeing to go on the blind date to please her friend, Ali realised that she had a lot in common with George, even ordering the same meal – a crab salad – and proceeded to talk for hours.
© Kevin MazurGeorge, meanwhile, told the New York Times: “You know how when you go on a date and the first 15 minutes are on automatic pilot? About 15 minutes in, she just leaned in and said something, and we were suddenly in another place, in another universe, immediately. We went from strangers to friends to being in love in days.”
The pair were engaged after dating for just two months, and got married at a ceremony performed by George’s father, who is a reverend.
© InstagramShortly after tying the knot, the couple went on to welcome their first child, daughter Elliott, born in September 2002, followed by second daughter Harper, born in June 2005.
The family are incredibly close and Ali previously gave an insight into their home life. Chatting to Harry Connick Jr, she said: “I have two girls. George is the only guy in the house.
For some reason, he gets beat up constantly. He is always wrong. He is an idiot. He is a loser, but in a loving way.”
© Ali Wentworth on InstagramWhen Harper flew the nest at the end of August – to attend Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee – Ali and George were both bereft. At the time, Ali took to Instagram to post a number of photos of herself and George walking away from Harper’s dorm on the college campus, hand in hand.
“We dropped our baby off at college. Everyone is saying ‘she’s ready to launch’! But… I don’t think I’m ready!” she penned. “I don’t want to stop making pasta with vodka sauce, picking up wet towels, cuddling up to her familiar scent. As Joni Mitchell once wrote – ‘the bed’s too big, the frying pan too wide’.”
© Nina WesterveltShe continued: “I know our daughter will thrive. But man, it’s brutal on the parents. If you feel inclined – please send me baked goods. I’ll be under my covers.”
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