NEED TO KNOW
Willie Geist met his wife of 22 years, Christina Geist, in their 6th grade homeroom in 1986 at George Washington Middle School in Ridgewood, N.J.
During The Kelly Clarkson Show on June 18, Kelly Clarkson surprised the Sunday Today anchor with an appearance from his and Christina’s homeroom teacher, Mr. Kaplan
“Without Mr. Kaplan, without that homeroom, there’s no me and Christina,” Willie said
An “incredibly sweet” surprise from Kelly Clarkson left Willie Geist speechless.
During his appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Wednesday, June 18, the Sunday Today anchor, 50, gasped when Clarkson, 43, called out a special someone in the studio audience.
Willie and his wife, Christina Geist — who celebrated their 22nd anniversary in May — met in the 6th grade in “Mr. Kaplan’s homeroom” at George Washington Middle School in Ridgewood, NJ. As Willie reflected on the early days of their relationship, Clarkson said, “Well, we have a little surprise.”
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Willie Geist and Kelly Clarkson
Mr. Kaplan suddenly stood up from his seat in the crowd as a stunned Willie exclaimed, “No?! No!”
“Willie, you can imagine my surprise that I’m here today for The Kelly Clarkson Show,” Mr. Kaplan said, sharing how he got a call to come to the show. “And I was very happy to do it. I haven’t seen you in what? Thirty-nine years?”
Willie agreed, specifying that the year was, “1986.”
As a class photo appeared on screen, Mr. Kaplan touched on Willie’s remarkable relationship with his wife, 50, saying, “I don’t know whether it was kismet or karma that brought you and Christina together in my homeroom. I had nothing to do with it.”
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Willie said that the odds of him meeting his wife at such a young age were “impossible.”
“I was new to the school, I had just moved there,” he explained. “And I vividly remember scanning the room and going, ‘Oh, she’s cute,’ and it was my wife! It was my future wife in the room! I swear that’s true.”
He continued, “So without Mr. Kaplan, without that homeroom, there’s no me and Christina.”
Earlier in the segment, Willie noted that “it was a good thing” that his relationship with the children’s book author “wasn’t a straight line all the way through.”
“We were buddies for a long time,” he said. “Then we started dating our junior year in high school, and then we actually went to college together, broke up in our 20s as we lived in different cities, and then found each other later.”
After the school sweethearts reunited, Willie made their engagement a full-circle moment. He popped the question in their middle school homeroom in 2002. The following year on May 24, 2003, they got married in Puerto Rico.
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Christina Geist and Willie Geist
The pair share two children: 18-year-old daughter Lucie and 15-year-old son George.
For their 22nd wedding anniversary last month, Christina shared a throwback wedding pic with Willie on Instagram, writing, “05.24.03. To be so certain about someone, yet so uncertain about the future ahead, is the ultimate leap of faith. I’m so glad we jumped. Happy 22.”
“I love you (Since ‘86),” Willie commented with a red heart emoji.
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Willie posted a different wedding photo on Instagram alongside a sweet tribute to his wife.
“22 years ago today, my middle school crush became my wife. I love you … since ‘86,” he wrote in the caption of his post.
“Love you (x22),” Christina commented with a red heart emoji.
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