News anchor Lester Holt’s wife, Carol Hagen, has been his rock for more than four decades.
Holt and Hagen met at the age of 21 when she was a flight attendant and he was a radio reporter. Two years later, the couple tied the knot in 1982. Holt and Hagen welcomed sons Stefan and Cameron in 1987 and 1990, respectively.
Through the years, Hagen has been supportive of Holt’s career. “She understands that when the bell rings, I like to answer it, when the big story’s going on, I want to be there,” the NBC Nightly News anchor told Extra in 2015. “I love her to death, she has been so wonderful, she knows this job is going to bring a lot of late-night phone calls, get on a plane, but she’s there for me and that means an awful lot.”
Holt revealed that the secret to their marriage is “just to laugh,” adding that the couple giggles “a lot.” He added, “I can be silly, she can be sillier and we just laugh through things. We know that everything, even the tough times, will be a story at some point.”
Scroll down to meet Hagen:
Carol Hagen-Holt and Lester Holt SAUL LOEB/AFP
Hagen Once Joined Holt in Covering a Forest Fire
In the early days of their relationship, Hagen and Holt were together when KCBS asked him to cover a forest fire in Napa Valley. In response, Holt asked Hagen if she wanted to accompany him.
“I thought, ‘Wow, I’ve never been invited to go on a breaking news story before,’” she told Sactown Magazine in 2015. “‘A forest fire—that could be considered a hot date!’ So I said, ‘I’m game.’ I guess I knew what I was getting myself into with Lester and his career.”
Hagen Is a Mother
The couple are parents to sons Stefan and Cameron, with the former following in Holt’s journalism footsteps. Stefan graduated from Pepperdine University in 2009 before working as a news reporter for WPBF-TV in Florida. He now works at NBC 5 Chicago.
Cameron, for his part, graduated from Stanford University in 2012 and received his master’s degree in management science and engineering from the school the following year. He now works as an Executive Director at Morgan Stanley.
When Cameron was hospitalized for a collapsed lung, Hagen recalled Holt being by his son’s side while maintaining his job as a broadcaster.
“We’d have dinner together in hospital chairs eating off paper plates,” Carol told Sactown Magazine. “All of this was going on, and he would just show up to work and be rock steady. Now I don’t mean to be bragging, but he’s just that type of guy. He’s a calm guy under pressure.”
Hagen Is a Grandmother
Holt and Hagen have three grandchildren, who call the news anchor “grand dude.” He shared during an interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2021 that he wanted the family’s new generation to refer to him by the nickname because “grand bows to the fact that I’m older, but dude says I still got a little bit.”
Hagen Is a Real Estate Agent
Hagen is a real estate agent in New York City with over a decade of experience. Per her bio on Realtor.com, “Carol’s ability to listen and engage has been described as ‘reassuring,’ and ‘calming’ by her clients, while her commitment to professionalism and discretion makes her a highly sought-after representative.”
Hagen Doesn’t Care If Holt is On TV
Hagen shared during an interview with Sactown Magazine that her love for Holt didn’t revolve around him being on the TV screen. “I met him when he did radio, [and] I thought that was an interesting job,” she said. “The TV job is an interesting job, but at some point you retire, and you’re not the TV guy anymore. And I fell in love with the guy who wasn’t the TV guy. I fell in love with Lester Holt with the scanner in his car, running around and covering stories. He could stop doing TV right now, and it wouldn’t matter to me.”