Maury Povich’s road to TV success was a tough one financially.
“I was dead broke at 44. I mean, really dead broke,” Povich, 86, shared on the Monday, April 7, episode of his “On Par” podcast. “At 44, I had just come back [from] starting out in Washington, D.C., where I was a kind of a minor celebrity, trying to say, ‘Can I make it somewhere else?’”
After “bouncing around” between cities across the U.S., Povich returned to D.C. before being asked to host the TV news program A Current Affair. “But money-wise, dead f***ing broke,” he stated. “A couple of years later, this wild, crazy Australian [Rupert Murdoch] buys the television stations. And in a second, I’m off to New York to do this crazy tabloid show called A Current Affair. And the rest is history.”
A Current Affair premiered in 1986, two years after he tied the knot with journalist Connie Chung. At the time, the pair shared a “commuting relationship,” as he had been working out of D.C. and she had worked in NYC.
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“Rupert brings me up to start this show and throws me in with a bunch of Australians that he brought over from Australia to produce this tabloid thing,” he recalled. “And he says, ‘Well, if this doesn’t work out, you’ll go back.’ I said, ‘What is this, like, summer camp? I mean, go back to Washington?’ He says, ‘Yeah. And by the way, maybe you’ll find out whether you all can live together.’”
Povich noted that A Current Affair went on to be “the biggest show for the next five years in syndicated television.” But despite his career success, he says he was “almost 50 before I made any money, any scratch,” which sparked concern from his parents.
“My father was so worried that money just burned through me, that there was a hole in my pocket,” he stated. After gaining financial stability years later, Povich surprised his dad by sending a plane to take him on a trip to his home state of Maine.
“He’s almost 90 and he says, ‘I’m not going to worry about you anymore,’” Povich shared. “I think everybody should get to the point where their parents don’t have to worry about them anymore. And I was dead in my 50s or 60s before that happened.”
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Povich remained on A Current Affair until 1990, one year after which he went on to host his eponymous talk show. The TV personality announced that the series would come to an end after 31 seasons in March 2022.
“Six years ago when I was ready to retire, my NBCUniversal family asked me to continue the show,” he said in a statement to Us Weekly at the time. “Even though I told them I was ready for assisted living, out of loyalty to NBCUniversal and my more than 100 staff and crew members, Tracie Wilson and I agreed to one more deal.”
He added, “I’m so proud of my relationship with NBCUniversal and all those who worked on the Maury show, but as I occasionally tell my guests: ‘Enough, already!’”
Outside of his career, Povich and Chung, 78, adopted their son, Matthew, in 1995. He is also the father of daughters Susan and Amy, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Phyllis Minkoff.
