Katie Couric jumped into the daytime waters on Monday with her new talk show “Katie,” and she opened up about her big move in an interview with Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush.
“How nervous were you?” Billy asked Katie on Monday.
“I would say that I was moderately nervous, but I felt comfortable with the material. We’d gone over my open a few times, so it wasn’t my first rodeo,” Katie said.
Far from it, Katie carries with her 33 years of news broadcasting experience, and on Monday’s show, Matt Lauer, Katie’s old “Today” co-host, made a dreamy guest appearance.
“When did you cook up the open with Lauer?” Billy asked, of the opener where Katie and Matt woke up from a dream.
“Oh, that was something I thought about doing for a long time with Matt,” Katie said.
“There were twin beds — kind of a Bert and Ernie situation,” she continued. “I always thought if Matt and I worked together again I would do this funny thing, ‘God, I had the weirdest dream!’ And then we thought ‘Why don’t we do it for this?’”
Katie loves to have fun and on her new show, she plans to have plenty.
Her show debuted well on Monday thanks to big promotion, the old “Oprah Winfrey Show” time slot and, of course, the Katie Couric factor.
Now that she’s a talk show host, Billy asked Katie how much of her personal life she’ll reveal in the future on her show.
“Will you discuss your personal life? Will you discuss dating and what’s going on?” Billy asked, noting people are interested in her relationships.
“I have no idea why because it’s not that fascinating,” Katie said. “But, I think for me, I will share. I don’t want to over share, but I will talk about my life, particularly when it is germane to something we are discussing.”
Katie, 55, was not long ago linked to Brooks Perlin, a businessman 17-years her junior.
“Was that for love or fun?” Billy asked of the past relationship.
“That’s such a cheesy question,” Katie smiled.
“Let’s get a cheesy answer,” Billy said.
“Yeah, you know, yes, we loved each other and I think you get something from every relationship you are in and I cared deeply about him and vice versa. And it [wasn’t] necessarily for the long haul, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t very important to me,” she explained.
Katie is now dating John Molner, a financier.
“The new fellow is a handsome man. He looks a little like Lauer,” Billy suggested.
“What is wrong with you!” Katie laughed. “I forgot this is Access Hollywood.”
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