Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski: Quotes About Each Other

It’s been over five years since Morning Joe cohosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski tied the knot in a secret ceremony at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., on November 24, 2018.

However, the two met years earlier after Mika joined the MSNBC weekday morning broadcast show as a cohost in 2007 alongside Joe and Willie Geist.

Though Mika and Joe were both in relationships at the time, Willie 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.

Closer takes a look back about what Joe and Mika have said about one another over the years.

On Getting Together

In August 2017, Joe revealed how he and Mika came together as a couple. During an interview with SiriusXM’s “Dialing Donny,” he explained, “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.”

On Their Proposal

About a decade after Mika 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,” Mika recalled of the proposal during an interview with Vanity Fair. “And then he asked, and I said, ‘Absolutely.'”

On Getting Married

“We wanted it to be really small and simple and not what you expected from Mika and Joe,” Mika told Vanity Fair of their November 2018 wedding. “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, which was extremely private, was officiated by Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings.

On the Pay Gap They Once Experienced

Over the years, Mika has been candid about the pay disparity she experienced with her husband Joe and fighting for equality. “Despite my professional experience, the fifteen-hour workdays, and a successful new show that I had helped build, MSNBC was still refusing to pay me what I was worth,” she wrote in her 2011 book Knowing Your Value. “After child care, on-air wardrobe, makeup, travel, and the other ridiculous expenses that women in this business end up taking on, the job was actually costing me more than I was being paid.” Thankfully, she revealed on Morning Joe, “We fixed it.”

On Working Together

During a 2017 appearance on The View, Mika and Joe were asked questions about their relationship, including what it’s like working so closely together. “You know what’s so funny is I told Mika all along that, you know, my parents worked together. And I was like, ‘How do they do that?'” Joe said, according to People. “But it works.” Mika added, “What we do is really fun, though. Our job doesn’t feel like work. It really is a fun conversation. We love everybody we work with. And in this business that’s really, I mean, you guys [on The View] do it, but it’s hard to accomplish.”

On Their Ideal Date Night

During an episode of Morning Mika, the host was asked by a viewer what her favorite date night with Joe is. She replied, “I don’t think I’ve actually been to a movie theater in years. I would say: in bed by 6 p.m., eating pizza — in bed — with our dogs and cats and going to sleep. I mean… We get up at 4 o’clock in the morning for this show, so if we could have a night off just to like be in bed… is that like a bad thing to say? I have my humidifier mist, my sound machine on, Joe plays Beethoven… It’s so nice, that’s our date night.”

On Their 5th Wedding Anniversary

In 2023, the two celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary. Alongside a photo of the couple sitting on benches overlooking the water, Joe 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❤️.”