For years, FOX Sports host Charissa Thompson has denied the concept of marriage after going through two marriages that ended in divorce. For the past 4 years, Charissa has been in a healthy relationship with Steven Cundari and doesn’t believe in adding the marriage label this time around. Although it now looks like a shift is taking place, as the couple is making some plans about their future.
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In a recent episode of her Calm Down podcast, which she co-hosts with Erin Andrews, Charissa finally answered a fan’s question about her commitment ceremony planning.
“It’s not happening, well, I mean, it is happening, I’m sure. The backstory on this is, after going to the royal wedding this summer and being around some other friends that have incredible relationships, Steve and I are open to the idea of doing something. Not a wedding. We still don’t want to get married in the legal sense and all that, um, but we have thought about having a big party and something that we would like to do to celebrate with our friends.
“When that’s actually going to happen, I’m not sure, but you’ll be the first to know, our Calm Down [listeners]… Also, I just want to have a party with all my friends. Someone that’s been married twice, you haven’t been at either one of my weddings. Like, there’s a time, it’s finally time for… to have something where, like, my actual circle of friends are at. So it’d be fun.”
Charissa Thompson and Steven Cundari started dating in July 2022 after meeting through mutual friends, Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford and his wife Kelly. Cundari is a marketing executive and the co-founder of Summit House.
Thompson’s skepticism about marriage started at 24 when an attempted breakup unexpectedly turned into an impulsive proposal. It then led to both of them getting Hollywood tattoo rings and a Laguna Beach wedding.
Clarissa Thompson would later get married to sports agent Kyle Thousand in December 2020. But soon filed for divorce in April 2022. Those heartaches led Thompson to explain on Kylie Kelce’s Not Gonna Lie podcast why remarrying is off the table for her completely.
“What I mean by that is I married the wrong people, plural,” she shared. “I had some situations that created a lot of mistrust and a lot of heartache and a lot of things that came from those experiences in marriage that I was like, ‘Oh I don’t want to attach myself to something that I can’t detach from.’”
But after attending Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce and pop star Taylor Swift’s grand wedding this year, Thompson admitted that the ceremony “reminded her that she found her person she wants to share her life with.”
“It was magical, it was all the things and this is the part where we say we’re not going to say too much because these weird headlines come. It was a reminder to all of us — and maybe there is some subliminal part of seeing them get married that makes me want to have a version adjacent to marriage in the commitment ceremony — because watching them get married, I’m like, when you find your person, everything else in the world is right.”
Speaking with fans on social media about whether she would remarry, Thompson shared that she doesn’t need a formal ceremony to validate a relationship.
“No more marriage for me,” she said. “Just being with a man who is kind and doesn’t take from me is all the commitment I need!”
While Charissa and Steven are not planning to get married ever, at least not in the legal sense, they have come to an understanding that their union calls for a grand celebration. When and where that happens is something fans will find out sooner or later from Charissa herself, on her Calm Down podcast.