In less than two months, Charissa Thompson turns 44. Since stepping into her 40s, Thompson has grown increasingly reflective about who she is, the relationships she has been in, and the honest admission that she “married the wrong people.” Through all of it, she now has a clear answer for things that she has been most proud of when it comes to her self-growth.

“There’s just an acceptance of self, unapologetically,” Thompson said on the Calm Down podcast with Erin Andrews on Episode 403. “I think having a partner who also allows me to be myself is so refreshing that again, and I have the asterisk here.”

“It’s not for everyone. But I love that I can be myself in a relationship and I am sort of unapologetic about who I am,” Thompson continued. “It took me a long time to get to this point. But I’m comfortable in the space that I am now, and I can’t say that I always was.”

During the episode, the duo also opened up about aging, self-acceptance, and what life in their 40s actually looks like. Thompson explained that the relationship she has built with herself, and becoming genuinely okay with who she is, has been the most meaningful part of her self-reflection and growth. She also didn’t shy away from naming what she had to fight through to get there.

“I think that a lot of times in this profession or even in different relationships, I tried to fit into what they wanted me to be as opposed to just being like nah this is who I am and if you like me, great, and if you don’t, no problem,” Thompson added.

Thompson has spent nearly two decades building one of the most recognizable sports broadcasting careers in the country. The host of Fox NFL Kickoff, Fox NFL Sunday, and the Thursday Night Football pregame show first joined Fox Sports as an assistant back in 2006, and has been a fixture on the network ever since.

What has always set Thompson apart, beyond her on-screen presence, is her willingness to be open about her struggles. Her fans have connected with that honesty. That is exactly what she and Andrews deliver week after week on their podcast. Thompson has leaned into her 40s fully, choosing herself along the way without apology.

“I’m not for everyone, and I’m okay with that,” Thompson said.

That kind of clarity does not arrive without setbacks. The road to self-acceptance that Thompson describes today ran through some difficult personal chapters. Particularly when it came to her relationships, those experiences have shaped the choice that she is not getting married again.

Charissa Thompson will not be walking down the aisle again

Charissa Thompson has been married twice, and both marriages ended after a short time. Currently, she is in a relationship with Steven Cundari, a marketing executive based in Los Angeles. The two have been together for nearly four years. The couple went public in 2022. But Thompson has been clear and consistent about one thing: she is not walking down the aisle again.​

“No marriage for me,” Thompson told Kylie Kelce on Not Gonna Lie in 2024. “Just being with a man who is kind and doesn’t take from me is commitment enough for me.”

Thompson first got married in Las Vegas at 25, an impulsive decision that ended in divorce and one she has rarely discussed publicly. She then married sports agent Kyle Thousand in December 2020.

That marriage ended in 2022 when Thompson filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. The podcast host later revealed that she hadn’t even wanted to get married the second time.

“I got married the last time because that person had never been married, and they wanted to get married. I didn’t even want to get married again, but I did it for them, and so I’m done making decisions because somebody else wants that,” Thompson said.

For Thompson, that decision does not come from bitterness but from experience and self-awareness. She also shared that she once dreamed of having kids, shaped in part by babysitting children in her neighborhood growing up. 

But life rarely follows the script you write for yourself at 11 years old. Decisions change, priorities shift, and the version of herself she has grown into has made peace with that.