Katie Couric made an appearance on Howard Stern's Sirius XM radio show on Tuesday, where she spoke about the possibility of reuniting with former "Today Show" co-anchor Matt Lauer for a morning news program and submitted herself to Stern's usual probing of his guests' romantic histories.
Among celebrities Couric said she has dated were Bob Saget and Jeff Probst -- neither of which called back. And she also revealed that Michael Jackson had reached out to her in hopes that they could have dinner, but that she was in a relationship at the time, an opportunity which Couric said she was sorry to have missed.
Watch a video excerpt from the radio show below.
Couric's husband, Jay Monahan, passed away in 1998 of colon cancer. The couple had two children, aged 17 and 21. She has been dating New York financier John Molner for about a year.
After going out on dates with comedian Bob Saget and "Survivor" host Jeff Probst, she told Howard Stern, she wasn't particularly upset that neither called her back, as she didn't think there was "real magic there."
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Stern suggested to Couric that she and Matt Lauer should go back to the "Today Show," which has slumped in ratings since the duo's departure and now trails ABC's "Good Morning America." Couric told the host that the two of them had talked about teaming up to do a show together, but that it never materialized.
Stern went on to inquire into whether there had been any romantic tension between her and Lauer when they were co-hosts of the "Today Show." Couric responded in the negative before adding, "You know what, I actually had a little crush on Matt when he was the local news anchor at WNBC because he was so funny and so quick."
In perhaps the most remarkable revelation made over the course of a three-hour interview (which was subsequently cut down and aired as a one-hour segment), the journalist said that Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the spiritual advisor of late entertainer Michael Jackson, had called her in her "Today Show" office on Jackson's behalf 12 years ago to invite her on a date.
"[He said] 'Katie, I have a question for you, are you seeing anyone?' And I thought, this is so beyond creepy that Rabbi Shmuley is hitting on me. I'm like 'Rabbi Shmuley, you have like nine kids, what's going on here?' I said 'Actually, I am [seeing someone].' Because I had a boyfriend at the time."
She went on, "He said, 'Oh, that's a shame...Michael [Jackson] said to me 'That's the kind of girl I would like to go out with...' and I said, 'Rabbi Shmuley, that's very flattering but I am seeing someone...will you tell him how flattered I am and what a nice compliment that is?'"
"Not to be too psychoanalytical about it, but I think he was looking for a little normalcy possibly, and maybe he saw me as kind of a normal person," she said.
Couric told Stern she regretted not having dinner with him. "That would have been insane -- breaking bread with Michael Jackson!"
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