Alison Berns Became Howard Stern's Ex-spouse after Decades of Marriage

Alison Berns was Howard Stern's first wife, but their marriage ended after they'd welcomed three daughters. Despite their no longer being together, the star still has nice things to say about his ex-wife.

Howard Stern's first wife, Alison Berns, was married to him for over two decades before he moved on to his second wife. In his 1997 book, "Private Parts," the television personality confessed that meeting Alison was the highlight of his life.

He accidentally met her through his friend, Ilyse, and described Alison as normal and beautiful. Howard and his friends were on their way to a party when it started raining, leading to him worrying about his hair.

One of his friends remembered that Ilyse lived close by, and they went over because the star wanted to blow dry his hair. While Howard was walking to the bathroom, he passed the kitchen and saw Alison talking to another woman, and thought she "looked great," adding:

"She was just my type - real cute, great thin body."

He initially thought she was out of his league. Before leaving for the party, Howard told one of his friends that he liked Alison but didn't think she felt the same way, and the pal agreed. Alison's future husband knew he had to get her, so he made an elaborate plan.

How Did Howard Stern's First Wife, Alison Berns, Become His Girlfriend?

Days after meeting her, Howard bumped into Alison at the Student Union, and she was friendly. However, he decided to do a junior film project for one of his courses, with the documentary focusing on one of Alison's interests, hoping to get closer to her.

Howard called Alison to ask that she appear in the project, telling her she was his dream girl and had the perfect face to feature in the film, but she declined. Instead of accepting the rejection, he begged her before Alison informed him she had to take her youth group children to a funeral.

He refused to take "no" for an answer, and she relented, telling him she'd do it if he couldn't find someone else. Howard hung up, but two seconds later, he was back on the phone with Alison, telling her he couldn't find someone else!

She eventually agreed and froze while shooting scenes of her meditating on rocks, but he was charming, and she appeared to enjoy his company. Surprisingly, his professors voted Howard's movie the best one, and he became brave enough to tell Alison that she was the one for him.

When he told her, they decided to go on a date, and within a week of dating, Alison's future husband knew they'd get married. After tying the knot, Alison and her husband started welcoming children together.

When Alison & Howard Stern's Children

After four years of marriage, Alison and her husband decided to have children. The couple tried for their first child while on vacation in Aruba. When Alison missed her period, they started telling people they were pregnant.

They even flew to Boston and told her parents and grandparents, but Alison's grandmother warned them about broadcasting the news. At six weeks pregnant, Alison had a miscarriage, leaving them feeling like failures.

Ultimately, they became parents to three children. Alison had a lot of pull on Howard Stern's radio show and would call in if he went too far. She even confronted him if he was flirting with some woman in the studio or embarrassing her on the show.

Sometimes, his flirtatious ways and confessions about their marriage upset Alison so much that she would look for a divorce attorney in the Yellow Pages. One such incident was when he blamed his illegal substance use for their miscarriage.

She found out about what he did through a local reporter and was so livid and felt so violated that she stayed up all night shouting at Howard. However, Alison's husband ensured their children never listened to his racy show. The couple's marriage eventually ended in divorce.

Howard preferred not to talk about it because he couldn't stand being that honest.

How Did Alison Stern Become Howard Stern's Ex-wife?

In a 2011 interview, Alison's former husband confessed to having a fantastic marriage while being faithful for 25 years. He admitted to his mind being blown when their union concluded. The star was upset by failing and letting down his children and ex-wife he'd known since college.

In 2011, Howard Stern's divorce was something he still wasn't comfortable discussing publicly. Alison's former spouse noted how she isn't a "bad person," was really "good," and they have "great" children. He said if his divorce only affected him, he'd talk about it, but because it didn't, Howard's family is being protected.

However, Alison's ex-husband admitted that divorce was a foreign concept to him because no one in his family went through with it. His children took it hard, and he couldn't figure out what went wrong and would spend the rest of his life trying to unravel that.

Howard preferred not to talk about it because he couldn't stand being that honest. Alison's former partner thought some stressors, including his work, added to the mix. She and the star separated in 1999 after being married for 21 years.

The former couple's romantic relationship became the basis of his movie, "Private Parts." While Alison's ex once boasted about being faithful while having strippers on his former radio show, he and his wife divorced in 2001.