MSNBC’s Willie Geist revealed one occupational hazard of getting up early for morning television — the constant threat of wardrobe malfunction.
Geist was in the District last week to film an episode of Carol Joynt‘s every-once-in-awhile talk show, the Q&A Cafe at the Georgetown Ritz-Carlton. There, as he sipped a bourbon with a splash of ginger, he explained how that a 3:30 a.m. wake-up call can lead to mismatched socks — or something worse. “I, one time, got dressed in the dark and I got in the elevator of our building and that’s when I kinda started to open my eyes and I looked down and I had my tuxedo on,” Geist said. “I’m tight on time, and I say, ‘do I just roll with this and wear a tux on the show?'” He decided against it, and went back up to his New York City apartment to change. “It was a little formal for morning television.”
Recommended Stories
Continuing the early morning talk, Geist also explained about how the current “Morning Joe” team was thrown together. Don Imus had made his derogatory comments about the Rutgers Women’s Basketball team and, literally by the next day, MSNBC had three hours to fill. “It’s amazing for me to think about how five seconds changed the course of my life, truly,” Geist explained. Joe Scarborough had liked Mika Brzezinski‘s spunk and gave Geist a shot on the air as well. “I’m the son and [Mike] Barnicle is the weird sort of uncle — ‘Mike, we didn’t even book you today, why are you here?’ — He just kind of loiters, he doesn’t have much to do,” Geist said, after Joynt likened Scarborough and Brzezinksi to “Morning Joe’s” mom and dad.
“I’ve always thought of it as fantasy breakfast,” Geist said. But, turning back to that bourbon, he said he wouldn’t mind hosting his own show, later in the day, where drinks are involved. “Yes, I would,” he said smiling.
