Relationship Timeline of Meredith Vieira and Husband Richard Cohen

Meredith Vieira and the late spouse Richard Cohen were each other’s biggest supporters throughout their decades-long marriage.

Cohen had already been battling multiple sclerosis for 10 years when he met Vieira in 1982 after being diagnosed with the chronic neurological disorder at the age of 25. “I dropped a coffee pot for no reason. I fell off a curb for no reason. I noticed a little numbness in my leg,” he said Yahoo Lifestyle in March 2019. “It hit my sight pretty quickly, but other than that, I was very physically active and I thought I was really beating it. I was living in denial.”

Despite his health difficulties, Cohen and Vieira fell in love and went on to welcome three children. “It’s one of those clubs that you don’t want to join, but when you’re a part of it, you realize there are amazing people within that community,” Vieira said of her husband during appearance in September 2019 on The Scene. “And I really believe that when you’re dealt, that’s the card you deal, you deal with it. And it’s amazing.”

The pair were married for 38 years when Cohen died aged 76 in December 2024. Hoda Kotb announced the news on Today in January 2025, revealing that Cohen was “surrounded by his family and love” at the time of his death.

Scroll down for a look back at Vieira and Cohen’s sweet love story:

1982

In March 2019, Vieira said Yahoo Lifestyle that she and Cohen “hit it off” from the start of their relationship, saying, “I was thinking two things: ‘What a jerk,’ and then my second thought was, ‘I’m going to get married this man. ‘”

Cohen noted that he informed his future wife of his MS diagnosis on their second date. “I learned the hard way to get him on board,” he said, noting that Vieira “didn’t blink” at the revelation.

1986

The couple said “I do” four years after they met.

1989

Cohen and Vieira became parents with the birth of their eldest child, son Benjamin.

1991

The couple welcomed their second child, son Gabriel.

1993

Their family continued to grow with the birth of their daughter, Lily.

May 2011

Vieira announced her decision to leave her hosting role on NBC’s Today in order to spend more time with her family. “I was really torn because I love it here,” he said in a press conference at the time. “But I had personal issues that were weighing on me and I felt that I really needed to examine them closely and make a decision based on them.”

He added: “I went back and forth and back and forth. It was really at the last minute I had to go with my gut, and I know it’s the right thing, but it doesn’t make it any easier.”

December 2011

“I think it’s important to ask for help when you need help, to have friends who care,” Vieira said when asked to share advice for families dealing with MS on an episode of Anderson Live. “In the beginning, I thought, ‘Boy, does that put a burden on other people?’ But that’s what friends are for, literally. And I’m never shy if we need any kind of help, and I think it’s great for the kids to be able to talk to people too.”

He continued: “And maintain a sense of humour. I mean, I think that’s what’s kept us going through a lot of this. As you can, just always look on the bright side when you can find it.”

Cohen chimed in to add: “I think we’ve learned that illness is a family issue, and they have a lot at stake in this too, and they need to be nurtured and need help to get through it. And it really works best when you do it as a unit because you support each other.

April 2014

Vieira took to social media to reveal that her husband was in hospital with “a blood clot in his leg that had partially traveled to his lungs.”

In s follow up tweethe thanked fans for their “kind thoughts and prayers” and joked “Richard is feeling better and already flirting with the nurses!” (Cohen previously battled colon cancer in 1999 and 2000.)

May 2018

“For Richard who is writing a book, he is legally blind and has only one hand. So, imagine someone, every day, around 6 am until around 8 pm at night, face pressed to the computer, typing with one hand,” Vieira said on Today discussing Cohen writing his fourth book, Pursuing Hope. “And I would say, ‘Why don’t you speak into a microphone, and it will all be transcribed?’ And Richard was very clear to point out, ‘That’s not how I write. That’s not how I create.’ So, that’s why when I said last night that I respect him, I admire him — and we admire him as a family — but I’m amazed.”

September 2019

“We definitely allow each other to take risks,” Vieira said People of how she and Cohen dealt with difficult times. “That’s part of the deal. Surely he is allowed to ventilate, because he has a chronic illness. But I am too. Because there are days I can’t stand it and the restrictions it puts on the whole family. It’s good to say. But we don’t dwell.”

He continued: “You may think, ‘Why us?’ but then it’s like, ‘Why not us?’ So many people deal with things and it puts it into perspective. … Richard is a very funny person, and I have a good sense of humor, so that’s our thing.”

January 2025

News broke that Cohen had died on Christmas Eve in December 2024. Kotb explained further Today that the couple’s children reunited around Thanksgiving because “they were worried they were going to lose him early.” Instead, they got to spend a “glorious month” with Cohen before his death.

Savannah Guthrie noted that Vieira was in “very good spirits” before praising her for being “a beautiful and devoted wife” to Cohen. “And he adored Meredith,” she said. “They were, like, the most fun, entertaining, irreverent, cool couple you could hang out with.”