Noted 'Cougar' Katie Couric is Engaged

Lady’s man, man’s man and man about town Katie Couric has made plans to stop galavanting about with every Tom, Dick and Harry: the 56-year-old television host is engaged to boyfriend John Molner, 50, who she’s been seeing since 2012.

Couric’s rep confirmed the engagement to People. Since her husband died in 1998 from colon cancer, Couric has had a string of high-profile, serious boyfriends, like Brooks Perlin, who she broke up with in 2011 and who, like a few of her boyfriends, was younger than her (they were 17 years apart). She’s also dated trumpet player Chris Botti.

Once she became a widow, Couric got a bit of a reputation in the press for being some sort of sexy lady dating all the young lads about town, a characterization she understandably disliked. She told PARADE magazine last year that she hates the word cougar:

“It’s silly and sexist. You don’t hear men who date women 30 years younger being called cougars. What is the equivalent word? There is no equivalent.”

And earlier this year Couric reflected to Howard Stern about the challenges of dating when you are older:

“When you get to my age, everyone is a little bit wounded. So I think it’s important to handle people with care – not to think, ‘Oh, what a terrible date,’ but just, ‘This person isn’t for me.’ Everyone has a lot of baggage. It’s just, can you fit it into the overhead bin?”

Congrats Katie! Next step is making sure he’s better prepared for the Met Gala next year and doesn’t look like a deer about to be run over by a truck.