“I was watching her at work.” That’s how it all began for Craig Melvin, now a familiar face on NBC’s Today show, and his wife, Fox Sports broadcaster Lindsay Czarniak. It was a casual glance—or perhaps a focused watch—that turned into a life-changing connection. Melvin still remembers the exact moment he saw Czarniak for the first time while both were working at the NBC affiliate WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. It was a split-second, on-air decision that unknowingly set the stage for a nearly 14-year marriage and a beautiful family.
Craig Melvin had just joined the station as a news anchor. Lindsay Czarniak, an accomplished sports journalist, was away covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Before she even stepped back into the newsroom, Melvin was aware of his talented, yet-to-be-met colleague. Then, one Saturday, during a live broadcast, she was back. Melvin, thinking her usual fill-in was still in place, turned to introduce her segment.
“Well, look who’s back from China,” he quipped on air. The moment of introduction, a casual, televised handover, became their unofficial first date. Czarniak, quick-witted, responded in kind, “Oh, hello, Craig Melvin. I’ve never met you before. Good to meet you!”
The viewers, perhaps sensing the immediate, genuine spark between the new colleagues, felt the electricity before either of them realized it was the start of something serious. They were colleagues and friends first, getting to know each other over months of casually hanging out. Yet, for Czarniak, that initial click was powerful. She later shared that while she didn’t know she had to be with him, she knew she didn’t want to be with anyone else. “It felt like being with the person that really gets you and that you’ve known for a really, really long time,” she revealed.
Despite Czarniak’s reluctance to date a co-worker, Melvin’s initiation of their courtship in October 2009—a dinner date at Cafe Atlantico—finally shifted their relationship. They kept their romance a secret from their colleagues for months, navigating the complexities of an intra-office relationship until they realized things were becoming serious. This ‘secret moment’ behind the scenes, the time spent building a private life away from the broadcast studio, solidified their foundation.
Their professional lives, however, continued to intersect in subtle ways. Years later, Czarniak admitted to keeping a hilarious, decade-long “secret” about their courtship. When Melvin first got his company cell phone at WRC, it had previously belonged to a producer named Jake Milstein. When Melvin called Czarniak on her own station phone, the name that popped up was “Jake Milstein.” As a funny, superstitious nod to their early days, she never changed the contact name—a small piece of their history preserved in a digital alias.
In March 2011, Melvin chartered a late-afternoon sailboat in Miami and asked the question that would change everything. Czarniak, overwhelmed by the surprise, famously—and immediately—replied, “I think I’m gonna throw up.” After realizing her response might have been misunderstood, she quickly clarified and accepted the proposal.
That awkward-but-perfect moment was just another chapter in their unique love story. Three years after their on-air introduction, Craig Melvin and Lindsay Czarniak tied the knot in October 2011 in Washington, D.C., with many of their WRC colleagues in attendance. They now share two children, a son named Delano and a daughter named Sybil. Their journey, which began with a public “hello” and grew through a private, secret romance, is a heartwarming testament to how sometimes, all it takes is a casual glance across a news set to find the person who will be by your side for life.
