NBC moderator Kristen Welker switched careers when she was named to take over Chuck Todd's position as the new Meet the Press host.
With Welker's career change, NBC fans are eager to know more about the journalist and her family life.
Who is Kristen Welker's husband, John Hughes?
John Hughes is a marketing executive at Merck, a pharmaceutical company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
He reportedly obtained the marketing executive role in February 2015.
However, John has been working with the company since 2006 and has climbed his way up to his current position.
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Despite being in a spotlight marriage, John tends to keep his personal life as private as possible.
How long have they been together?
Kristen Welker and John Hughes met in 2014 when they were set up by a mutual friend.
In a New York Times interview, John recalls an immediate attraction upon seeing Welker.
John said: "When she got out of the car, I immediately felt like I was out of my league.
"I remember thinking to myself, 'If I can just make her laugh, maybe I’ll have a chance.'"
Fortunately, the two hit it off and began dating exclusively.
By June 2016, John asked Kristen to marry him, proposing near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, where they now live.
“I wanted to ask her outside in a place you could walk by years later and tell your kids that this was the spot we got engaged,” he told the outlet.
John and Kristen got married in 2017 at the Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia, just a block from where they had their first date.
Do they have kids?
The couple announced on April 23, 2021, that they were expecting their first child together.
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A few months later, they welcomed their daughter, Margot Lane Welker Hughes, on June 12, with the help of a surrogate.
After Margot's birth, Kristen opened up to People about her infertility and the couple's journey with surrogacy.
"I never imagined, and I think most people don't, that you're going to be one of the couples that will struggle with infertility," she told the media outlet. "And yet, there we were."
The couple's choice for surrogacy came after three years of failed IVF treatments.
"I consulted with four different doctors. The lowest moment was when that fourth doctor called me and said, 'We've run all the tests. We've looked at everything. We just don't think that you are going to be able to carry a child.' I thought, 'How is this ever going to happen?'" Kristen continued.
Despite years of failed attempts, the couple did not give up hope and found a new way to have the child they have always wanted.
"Once you get beyond the 'Okay, it's not going to be in the traditional way,' then you start looking at the other options. Surrogacy felt like the right decision for us," Kristen added.
Kristen has since been using her platform to advocate and share her story so that others going through infertility issues won't feel alone.
"Whether you're struggling with infertility or anything, that sometimes by sharing your story and speaking out, you find support and love in places that you could have never imagined," Kristen said.
On October 1, 2021, Kristen, John, and baby Margot visited the Today show to discuss their parenthood journey.
“Motherhood is even more amazing than I could have ever imagined,” Kristen said on the program.
On May 14, 2024, Kristen shared that the pair are expecting a baby via surrogate on the Today show.
"John and I are thrilled to announce we are welcoming a second baby into our family," she said on the show, "with the help of another amazing surrogate."
She went on to say she hopes that her news "offers hope to others" who are dealing with infertility struggles and "are trying to build their own families."
How can I watch Meet the Press?
Meet the Press airs new episodes every Sunday at 10:30 am ET on NBC.
On June 4, 2023, NBC's Meet the Press host, Chuck Todd, announced he was stepping down after nine years on the show.
Taking his place is the lovely journalist Kristen Welker.
Breaking the mold, Kristen's newest position will mark her as the first Black journalist to host the show.
Kristen took over hosting duties on September 17, 2023, to focus on covering the 2024 presidential race.
