How GMA Host Sara Haines Met Her Husband and Father of Three Kids, Max

Sara Haines, the host and journalist best known for “Good Morning America,” has been married to Max Shifrin since 2014. Their love story is one of a kind.

While she was still working at the “Today” show, one of the producers asked her to create a profile on OkCupid, a free online dating website, for a segment that would address the do’s and don’ts of finding a partner on the internet.

Soon later, the segment aired and the producers told Sara that she could delete the profile already. However, she kept it, claiming that “you can’t quit when it gets uncomfortable if you’re serious about this.”

They tied the knot in the Bahamas on November 22, 2014.

Meeting her husband online

The “GMA” host pointed out that she enjoyed her time on the dating website and that, after spending a few weeks “exploring New York finest in this digital wonderland,” a man named Max Shifrin texted her.

They arranged a date to meet each other personally but, unfortunately, she had to cancel it. A while later, Max messaged her again, asking for a second “first date.”

Sara’s brother was with his boyfriend at her favorite spot having drinks, so she told Max to meet there. “Just in case this date doesn't go well, why not have my brother there to continue the evening's festivities?” she admitted.

Only five minutes before the meeting, she told Max that her brother would be at the place, too. Apart from that, she texted her brother and told him she would meet a person there for the first time.

Things didn’t go as planned

“Well, my brother never got the text, so when the inevitably awkward moment unfolded, my brother didn't quite realize that we were just meeting for the first time,” Sara confessed.

Soon after the TV host and Max arrived at the place, her brother and his boyfriend “politically excused themselves.” Sara and Max didn’t stay at the venue for long, either, and went for dinner, which turned into after-dinner drinks.

When their first date ended, Sara didn’t know if he was the one. She knew, however, that she wanted to see him again. They moved in together a year later and, only nine months after that, Max popped the question.

Popping the question

About the proposal, Max told Yahoo Lifestyle that he didn’t have a plan or anything rocambolesque prepared. He proposed in his pajamas and got on one knee next to their bed.

Thankfully, Sara said yes, and they tied the knot in the Bahamas on November 22, 2014.

Their children

On March 5, 2016, the couple welcomed their first son, Alec Richard. According to the Instagram post shared soon after his birth, they named the boy, who weighed seven pounds and five ounces, after their fathers.

On December 23, 2017, Sara gave birth to the couple’s second child, a daughter named Sandra Grace. In the photo that the “GMA” host uploaded on Instagram, she pointed out that her daughter was named after her mother.

Their third child, Caleb Joseph, was born on June 26, 2019. In an exclusive interview the couple had with People, Sara revealed that they named him after her grandfather and brother.

Max’s life and career

Born on January 18, 1983, Max is five years younger than Sara. As he has revealed on social media a couple of times, his parents immigrated to the US from former Soviet Russia.

Since he grew up in a Russian household, he fluently speaks Russian, as well as English and French. Initially, he graduated from the University of Connecticut and got a bachelor’s degree in political science and history.

However, he kept studying and received his Juris Doctor in 2010 from the Brooklyn Law School. At the moment, he is working with Baker Hostetler LLP.

Sara, on the other hand, has been working next to Michael Strahan and Keke Palmer on “GMA3: Strahan, Sara and Keke.”