George Stephanopoulos and Ali Wentworth fell in love after blind date leading to their 19-year marriage

'Good Morning America' anchor George Stephanopoulos confirmed on Monday, April 13, he had tested positive for coronavirus just weeks after his wife, Ali Wentworth was diagnosed with the virus. 

Unlike Wentworth, 55, who previously described the condition as “pure misery," Stephanopoulos, 59, who had been broadcasting from home since the end of last month after his wife tested positive for the virus, told his colleagues on the show that while his diagnosis was “really no surprise,” he has been “basically asymptomatic."

“I’ve never had a fever, never had chills, never had a headache, never had cough, never had shortness of breath,” he said. He also added that his wife of 19 years was feeling "much, much better."

“She’s going on her fifth day now with no fever, which is really a great sign. Slowly getting out of bed a little bit more each day, so really happy about that," he said. 

The couple married in 2001, after falling in love with each other on a blind date.

Interestingly, Wentworth, a comedian and an actress was not looking to date men with a political background so Stephanopoulos, being the former advisor to President Clinton definitely did not fit her checklist. "I grew up in D.C. and I grew up amongst political guys, so George Stephanopoulos was not what I was looking for," she told Gotham in a 2018 interview. 

Meanwhile, her best friend had previously dated Stephanopoulos and wanted to set her up with him because she thought that they would be a nice match. Wentworth, who had gone through a breakup a short while before that point, was not that excited about the date.

"I didn't care about politics, and figured he'd be the last person I'd be interested in. I was holding out for Hugh Grant or Matthew Perry," she said on 'The Tonight Show' in 2017. She did end up going on the date as a favor to her friend. After she moved to New York City in April 2001, something made her give Stephanopoulos a call. 

"So I called him up and he said, 'What about dinner?' and I said, 'What about coffee?' He said, 'What about lunch?' and I said, 'Okay, what about Barney’s?' Because I could get my Kiehl’s scrub, if it was a total bust. I didn’t shower. I wore a black suit, so I looked smart, and read the New York Times. I thought it’d just be an interesting lunch, but we were married two months later, and have been married over 17 years now," she told Gotham.

In the same interview, she quipped on how she knew he was perfect for her. 

"It felt very comfortable, like I’d known him forever. All those things, but even when you have those things you need to have other stuff too. You need to be wildly attracted, which I didn’t think I would be. It just sort of all came together. Two months is a very, very short amount of time, but I was like, 'Jesus, what is he waiting for? Tick-tock, let’s get the ring.' I just knew he was the one," she said.

Stephanopoulos' recollection of the date in which both of them ordered the same dish -- a crab salad -- and proceeded to talk for hours, was just as romantic. ''You know how when you go on a date and the first 15 minutes are on automatic pilot?'' Stephanopoulos told the New York Times. "About 15 minutes in, she just leaned in and said something, and we were suddenly in another place, in another universe, immediately. We went from strangers to friends to being in love in days."

After dating for two months, the pair were engaged. On November 20, 2001, the couple got married in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York City. During their wedding, Stephanopoulos said: "I knew within 24 hours, I would not ever dare risk losing her."

They have two daughters together, Elliott and Harper.