Mel Robbins and her husband Christopher Robbins were meant to be.
In an interview for the January 4 issue Sunday sit-down meeting Mel Robbins recalled how she got engaged to her husband of almost 30 years.
“On our third date, we went out to dinner downtown and Chris didn't get down on his knees, he said, 'I want to marry you,'” she told Willie Geist.
“I said, 'Yes?' He said, “Yes.” He says, “I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you.” And I said, “I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you.” We'll get married! I said, 'Let's do it!'” she recalls.
Author “Theory let them” said that her husband wasted no time after that.
“When Chris finally received the ring, he suddenly asked, 'What am I waiting for?' – she said.
However, getting the ring proved difficult. Mel Robbins revealed that Christopher Robbins ran into a bit of trouble when he tried to get her a “little diamond eternity ring” inside the Empire State Building. When he left, she said, he realized his credit card wasn't working, so he had to ask his brother for money.
Then the problem arose of contacting her father and asking for her hand in marriage.
“He can’t reach my dad,” Mel Robbins said with a laugh. “And so he leaves a message on the answering machine at home.”
“Oh my God,” Willie responded.
“Bob, I hope you don't mind, but I'll ask Mel. I have to do this. I don’t know why,” she said, mimicking the awkward message.
According to Mel Robbins, once the ring was secured, her husband surprised her with a sweet proposal on the rooftop.
“I'm sitting here inside. It's just a random environment. And he comes in and says, 'I just got a call from the homeowner and there's something on the roof,'” she recalls. “And I was like, 'OK,' but he said, 'We've got to go up and see something.' And I was like, 'Why should I do this?'”
But once they reached the roof, she was shocked by what her future husband did next.
“He sits down on this disgusting tar, dirty, pigeon-scarred roof, and I look around and ask, “Why are we here?” And I was like, “What are you doing?” And he was like, 'Will you marry me?'” she said. “And I was like, 'I thought we were!'”
“And he had a ring. And that’s it,” she added.
The couple married in 1996 in Michigan. They have three children: Sawyer, 26, Kendall, 25, and Oakley, 20.
Mel Robbins posted a tribute to her husband on their 29th birthday in August 2025 and shared what they learned after their wedding.
One of her lessons came directly from the theory behind her viral hit: “Let It Go.”
“Stop trying to change people and learn to love them for who they are,” she said. “Most fights, resentments and disappointments arise from wanting people to be different. The more you allow people to be themselves, the better your relationships will be.”
