‘Today Show’: How Did Craig Melvin and His Wife Lindsay Czarniak Meet?
Craig Melvin balances his high-profile job as a Today Show co-host and a full family life as a husband and father of two. With wife Lindsay Czarniak also in the news industry as a reporter for Fox Sports, it’s no surprise that the couple first met at work.
Craig Melvin and wife Lindsay Czarniak worked together at WRC-TV
After graduating from Wofford College in 2001, Melvin worked as a reporter at WIS in South Carolina from 2001 to 2008. The Today star then headed over to WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. to take on the role of weekend news anchor.
Czarniak also worked at the station, but had been away covering the Beijing Olympics. Upon her return, she and Melvin quickly got acquainted and began to bond over their love of Whatchamacallit candy bars and live music. After Melvin spent several weeks thinking of excuses to run into her, Czarniak invited him to a work event along with other staffers.
Being a Southern gentleman, Melvin offered to give Czarniak a ride home and walked her to her door. “I’m from South Carolina,” he said, according to the Washington Post. “That’s what you do.”
The two began dating. Like many couples that begin a romance at work, Melvin and Czarniak tried to keep their relationship a secret, but went public after just a few months. After dating for three years, Melvin and Czarniak tied the knot in 2011. They welcomed son Delano in 2014 and daughter Sybil in 2016.
Craig Melvin’s wife Lindsay Czarniak has a full career
Between covering NFL and NASCAR for Fox Sports and now heading the podcast “The Artist and The Athlete”, Czarniak gets plenty of on-air time. She recently spoke of how her journey in news took off.
“I started in the business at CNN, that was my first job out of college,” Czarniak told Beyond the Flag in February 2021. “I was behind the scenes, it was an entry level program. That is how I began, and that’s also where my really burning desire to do TV and to do journalism was born.”
With her podcast covering how sports and music intersect, Czarniak has a packed roster planned for the program.
“It’s a mix, and that’s actually one of the things that I really love about it,” she explained. “It’s going to be a little bit of everything, musically and sports-wise. We have NFL players, NBA stars, NASCAR drivers, the list goes on and on.”
Craig Melvin took some time off from ‘Today’ for paternity leave
When Melvin’s daughter Sybil was born, he had the opportunity to spend some uninterrupted quality time with his family. Taking paternity leave to be there for his wife and two kids, the Today star had to keep distractions at bay.
“Paternity leave has also given me the chance to reflect on priorities,” Melvin wrote in a blog for People in 2016. “Like many of you, one of life’s greatest challenges for me has become unplugging from the noise that consumes so much of our lives. Resisting the urge to check a timeline, news feed, clever tweet or email even while on paternity leave has been difficult.”
Even with the lure of current events and social media, Melvin was able to focus on what was most important while being home with his family.
“I’ve actually been proud of my ability to stay present,” he wrote. “Not every day or all day, but certainly better than when I’m on the clock. … Spending this precious time with my wife, son and new daughter has also forced me to again consider how I’m doing at that work/life-balance thing. … devoting sufficient time to your favorite people and not letting something slip through the cracks.”
