Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski’s Relationship Timeline Will Make You Believe in 2nd Chances at Love

2007

Brzezinski joined MSNBC’s weekday morning broadcast show Morning Joe as a cohost in 2007 alongside Scarborough and Willie Geist. Though Brzezinski and Scarborough were both in relationships at the time, Geist later said in 2017 that their love blossomed while they worked together after their respective splits. “You had two single people, I think they always had a good relationship, they always had good chemistry, so I was not surprised by it. I was happy for them,” Geist said during an episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in June 2017.

2016

After Brzezinski split from her husband of 22 years in 2016, rumors that the TV news duo were dating started swirling (Scarborough had been divorced since 2013). According to a 2016 profile in GQ, the pair were “frequently spotted outside 30 Rock, traveling together on Nantucket and in Charleston, or sitting at tables for two over cozy dinners in Manhattan.”

May 2017

About a decade after Brzezinski joined Morning Joe, the couple got engaged in 2017 and announced the big news on-air during an episode of the show in May of that year. The political commentator popped the question while on vacation in Antibes, France. “When I saw him on one knee, I started laughing nervously, almost hysterically,” Brzezinski recalled of the proposal during an interview with Vanity Fair. “And then he asked, and I said, ‘Absolutely.'”

August 2017

Later that year, Scarborough offered up more details about how they came together as a couple. During an interview with SiriusXM’s “Dialing Donny” in August 2017, he spoke about their relationship, saying, “I realized after a couple of years of sort of slinking around my house and being depressed … I was being Bridget Jones. I realized that she was the one and everything’s worked out.”

November 2018

The pair tied the knot in a secret ceremony at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. on November 24, 2018. “We wanted it to be really small and simple and not what you expected from Mika and Joe,” Brzezinski told Vanity Fair at the time. “Everything we do is exposed, and everything felt exposed every step of the way, so we want this to be private until it’s over. We wanted to recognize it more quietly and have the people who are most important to us around us. And you know, our show is a cocktail party every morning.”

The ceremony — officiated by Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings — was extremely private. According to Vanity Fair, Scarborough and Brzezinski “did not send out any formal invitations; they made about 14 phone calls to their family members and close friends, and none of the guests knew where the dinner was until Saturday evening.”

November 2023

Late last year, the two celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary. Alongside a photo of the couple sitting on benches overlooking the water, Scarborough shared a sweet tribute to his wife. “My 92 year-old aunt grabbed my hand and told me last year that it was ‘just a miracle’ that Mika and I started where we did and somehow still managed to find one another,” he wrote on Instagram at the time. “Aunt Carolyn said it was ‘truly a blessing from God’. I agreed with her great insight, and remember those special words again on Mika and my 5th wedding anniversary. #happyanniversary❤️.”

April 2024

Brzezinski shared this rare snapshot of her time off from her TV show with her husband. “I ❤️NY — I love it when it feels like spring has sprung. Has it sprung?” she captioned the post on Instagram.

May 2024

During an episode of Morning Joe, Scarborough pulled off an epic surprise for his wife. He brought Dan Kilcoyne, the President and CEO of Mini Melts Ice Cream, onto the show along with a cart full of Mini Melts, which are Brzezinski’s favorite treat.

“So, Joe arranged this whole entire thing,” Kilcoyne told Brzezinski during the segment. “I mean, the thing with Mini Melts is, we want to make sure we bring moments of joy to everybody, so we brought a big moment of joy for your birthday here today.”

“On weekend mornings, she’ll wake me up at 5 or 5:15,” Scarborough explained. “I’ll go get her coffee. I’ll drive back. But I will tell you at night, when she’s half asleep, she’ll go, ‘I need Mini Melts.’ And I’ll go down to the garage and get back up. No, I’m telling you, she’s obsessive about it.”

The cast and crew also brought out a cake, balloons and cupcakes to celebrate Brzezinski’s birthday.