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Meredith Vieira’s husband, Richard Cohen, has died at age 76 after living with Multiple sclerosis (MS) for more than 50 years.
Hoda Kotb announced Cohen’s death on Tuesday (Jan. 7) during the episode today, one of the shows that Vieria previously hosted. Kotb revealed that Cohen died on Christmas Eve (December 24), “surrounded by love.”
The TV host also stated that before his death, Cohen was with his family, including his and Vieira’s grown children: Benjamin, 36, Gabriel, 34, and Lily, 32.
“Meredith said all the kids came for Thanksgiving,” Kotb explained. “Because they were worried about losing him early. But instead, they got a glorious month with their dad.”
Savannah Gutherie chimed in to share how the former host The View the radio. She also gushed about Vieira’s ex’s relationship with Cohen.
“She’s in a really good mood,” Guthrie added. “She was such a beautiful and devoted wife to Richard and he adored Meredith. And hanging out with them, they were like the funnest and most fun, irreverent, cool couple you could hang out with.”
During the episode of The View on Tuesday (Jan. 7), host Joy Behar also announced the death of Vieira’s husband.
“A lot of people who watched the show remember Richard,” Behar said. “Meredith told us it was fitting because he came into this world on Valentine’s Day and left it on the holiday. So it seemed like perfect symmetry.”
She concluded: “Our hearts go out to our beloved Meredith, as well as Richard’s family and many friends. A life well lived.”
Vieira and Cohen were first married in 1996. When he was just 25, Cohen was diagnosed with MS, a disease “that causes the protective covering of the nerves to break down,” according to Mayo Clinic. Symptoms can include “stiffness, weakness, difficulty walking, vision changes.”
During the interview with Yahoo Life! In 2019, he noted that MS is a “family disease” because both his mother and father had it. He also recalled some of his first symptoms of the disease.
“I dropped my coffee pot for no reason. I fell off the curb for no reason. I noticed a little numbness in my leg,” he said. “He hit my sight pretty quickly, but other than that I was very active physically and I thought I was really beating him. I was living in denial.”
Cohen noted that shortly after he began dating Vieira in 1982, he told her about his MS. “I kind of learned the hard way to put it on the table,” he said. “She didn’t blink.”
Vieira has been working in the TV industry for almost 40 years, with his first major role as a moderator The View from 1997 to 2006. She also hosted the show Who wants to be a millionaire from 2002 to 2013 and was co-host Today from 2006 to 2011. For two years, she ran her own program, The Meredith Vieira Show.
She currently hosts another popular game show, 25 words or lesswhere he has been since 2019.
Vieira has not spoken publicly about her husband’s death. The Independent has contacted a representative for Vieira for comment.