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Former Fox News and NBC journalist Megyn Kelly and her husband, Doug Brunt, recently celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary. Now with three kids in tow, the two met on a blind date in 2006. Apparently, Brunt made a stellar first impression on Kelly since she soon garnered him with a complimentary nickname.

Doug Brunt in a dark jacket standing with wife Megyn Kelly in a gray dress holding a bouquet of flowers
Doug Brunt and Megyn Kelly | Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

Doug Brunt was Megyn Kelly’s first blind date

In her 2016 book, Settle for More, Kelly described how she almost passed on the offer to meet Brunt.

“A woman I knew e-mailed me to say that she wanted to fix me up with a colleague of hers,” Kelly wrote. “She emailed me without telling him. I almost deleted the email, and with it, my future children. Something told me not to do it, and instead I hit save.”

It took Kelly a while to agree to a date, but soon the two met in a trendy Washington, D.C. hangout. The former Fox News star had enlisted a friend to be on standby for safety measures.

“I wanted my girlfriend to wait at the corner of the bar doing recon to let me know when Doug got there, and to make sure he didn’t seem sketchy,” Kelly explained. “I had never been on a blind date before.”

Megyn Kelly and Doug Brunt immediately hit it off

Though Brunt lived in New York at the time as a CEO of a technology company, he gladly made the trip to meet Kelly in Washington, D.C., where she was stationed for Fox News. The two made an instant connection.

“He was generous, funny, and gorgeous,” Kelly wrote. “It was all the stuff of a great first date. There were no tearful outpourings of childhood traumas or past relationships. He was inquisitive and perceptive. He offered a new perspective when hearing my old stories, and I liked the way his brain worked.”

With the success of their first outing, Kelly began referring to Brunt with a flattering moniker.

“Date one could not have gone better,” the former Today co-host remarked. “I started calling him Dream Date Doug. My mom reminded me that ‘Just Doug’ could work too.”

What is Megyn Kelly doing now?

Brunt and Kelly continued their long-distance relationship. She recalled an argument they had on New Year’s Eve, which prompted the “single best, single most important conversation of our lives.” That discussion made Kelly realize they were lifelong partners.

“I knew this man would someday be my husband,” she wrote. “I had officially gotten the message: more risk, more imperfection, more openness and honesty – in my work, my friendships, and my love life.”

The two tied the knot on March 1, 2008. Brunt eventually left his role as CEO in 2011 to become a full-time novelist, and is now a New York Times best-selling author. Kelly currently hosts her podcast, The Megyn Kelly Show, where she interviews high-profile personalities on politics and current events. The journalist recently posted a tribute to her husband to mark their wedding day.

“It’s our 13th wedding anniversary,” Kelly wrote on Instagram, alongside a photo of their wedding day. “Not sure how I got so lucky to wind up with @douglas_brunt but he makes the bad things better and the good things great. 3 kids later and we are still madly in love. Absolute blessing.”

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