Connie Chung Discusses 'Completely Different' Side of Husband Maury Povich 'Nobody Knows About' (Exclusive)

Connie Chung is revealing Maury Povich’s hidden side!

Chung, 77, discussed what husband Povich, 84, is really like outside of his talk show host persona while speaking to PEOPLE as the couple attended the 50th Annual Daytime Emmy and Lifestyle Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday. 

“Maury’s got a completely different side that nobody knows about,” Chung tells PEOPLE.

“He's a voracious reader. He's a political buff. He's a history buff. And I've always said to him, ‘It's great that you're determining the paternity of every child in America, not that there's anything wrong with it, but you could run circles around these intellectual snobs.’ ” 

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“And he has always said, ‘as long as you know it, I'm fine,’ … So I'm verklempt and because he's my baby daddy,” she continues. “... But the problem is that Maury has this persona on television, but he's very serious and I'm crazy. And people don't know that. They think I'm serious.”

Chung presented Povich — whose talk show Maury ended in September 2022 — with the Lifetime Achievement Award on Saturday following his 37-year career on television, which he attributes to having a supportive wife over the years. 

“Yeah, it's kind of overwhelming,” he tells PEOPLE. “But if I had to track it, everything I've ever done on national television started when this young lady consented to marry me 39 years ago … Look, I've been on national television for 37 years. I've been married 39. What's that say?”

Povich and Chung first met while working at a TV station in 1969. They eventually married in 1984 and are parents to a son, Matthew, 28, whom they adopted in 1995.  

Speaking of their love story in 2020, Povich told PEOPLE, "We've always respected each other's careers and we've always respected each other's space and values. There's no need for any do-overs. Maybe that's the reason why we're still married."

On Saturday, Povich also shared that he feels grateful for his long career.

“I think more than anything else, I think I'm proud of hanging around this long,” he adds to PEOPLE. “Because when I was about 30 and loving this business, I said to myself, if I could make $50,000 a year and work until I'm 50, that would be the greatest thing in the world. So I was a bit shortsighted.”

The 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards are airing live on CBS and Paramount+.