Deborah Norville Shares Secrets for a ‘Happy’ Life and Path to Success: ‘Everything We Have, We Earn’

Nearly 30 years ago, broadcaster Deborah Norville stepped onto the set at Inside Edition for the first time — and she’s been there ever since. “Inside Edition is 37 years old,” she tells Closer. “I’ve been a journalist for 45 years; I will celebrate my 37th wedding anniversary in December. So we’re into longevity here!”

Being conscious of the big picture in her life and career has paid off for Deborah, 66, who married Swedish businessman Karl Wellner in 1987. The couple are the parents of three adult children, Kyle, Mikaela and Niki. “I take the long view when bumps in the road come up,” Deborah says. “It would be satisfying and maybe easier to [fight] some things, but is that productive in the long view?”

Deborah recalls finding herself at a crossroads when pregnant with her second child. She was offered an anchor and reporter contract at CBS News that would have kept her away from home a lot. “It felt wrong for me to continually ask my husband to man the fires at home while I was running around as a correspondent,” she explains. “So, I was looking for an anchor situation. It was so important to me that I was not on the road.”

The stars aligned when Inside Edition came calling. While Deborah was thrilled to find a job that would allow her to sleep home every night, some of her colleagues in news felt she was selling herself short by joining a newsmagazine. She disagrees. “I think my credibility has to do with what I do and how I do it,” Deborah says. “The way people feel after interacting with me as a correspondent, and the positive impression I leave behind. Those things have enabled me to have this incredibly lengthy career.”

Along the way, Deborah’s had an opportunity to witness history. During an interview with former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1990, the world leader revealed that the invasion of Iraq during the first Gulf War was imminent. “It was the way she said it,” recalls Deborah. “The confidence with which she said, ‘Yes, we’re going to invade, we’re going to win.’”

Deborah, who lost her mom when she was 20, adds that she was taught self-dependence from a very young age. “My mom said, ‘I don’t care what you do, but I want you to have worked for a living, so you’ll never be dependent on a man for your survival,’” she says. It’s a message that she and Karl have also passed down to their children. “My husband and I don’t come from trust funds. Everything we have, we earn,” she says. “We told them, ‘We will give you an education at the best school you can get yourself into, and after that, it’s on you.’”

Inside Edition reaches a daily audience of more than 5 million viewers. Deborah’s hours can be long, and at times the stories they cover are complex, but she has a sure way of decompressing. “I’m happy when I’m organizing the closet,” she confides. “It’s my white whale. I’ve been trying to organize the closets and keep everything tidy. It always seems to elude me, but it is my eternal quest. And you know what? It makes me happy.”