Lou Rocco/ABCKatie Couric is opening up about her engagement to fiancé John Molner.
The 56-year-old talk show host admits she was a bit surprised when her 50-year-old beau proposed over Labor Day weekend while the two were away in the Hamptons.
"We had been talking casually about the possibility of getting married," Couric reveals in the latest issue of Gotham magazine. "We knew we were in a committed relationship, but we had not really discussed it in concrete terms. When John said he was open to it, I thought, ‘Great,' but I also didn't want to push it in that direction if that wasn't where he was headed."
And you'll never believe the uncanny story behind Molner's engagement ring shopping.
"Want to hear a really weird story about the ring? This is a Gotham exclusive," Couric dished. "John had been looking for a ring, and he ended up at a store called Stephen Russell. They showed him a dozen rings; he picked one right away and said that's Katie's ring. What he didn't know was that a number of years ago I had said to Stephen, ‘If I ever remarry, make sure whoever comes here gets me that ring.' It was the ring John picked out!"
As for getting remarried 15 years after her late husband John Paul Monahan passed away from colon cancer, Couric explained, "My preference was always to get remarried, but I was also open to being in a Goldie Hawn/Kurt Russell situation. I have a lot of respect for the institution of marriage; it was very old-fashioned that John proposed. I had absolutely no idea. In a world where we plan everything and you want to be in control of everything, it's nice for someone else to take control."