SI Swimsuit Model Doesn't Have To Worry About Things Getting Weird With CNBC Reporter Because He's Known Her Since She Was 17

Something you may have picked up on when watching CNBC interviews is that if an anchor or a reporter has fond feelings for his or her interviewee, he or she often finds them difficult to suppress. Joe Kernen, for example, more or less fellated David Tepper when the hedge fund manager appeared on Squawk Box a while back, telling Tepper his "entire body had chills" at the thought of having him on set (Bill Murray received the same treatment last Friday). To that end, maybe you saw Darren Rovell's interview with Kate Upton?

On Tuesday, the CNBC reporter sat down with the Sports Illustrated's swimsuit edition cover model. While it's tradition for Rovell to do so, having chatted with Irina Shayk, Brooklyn Decker, Bar Refaeli, and Marissa Miller when it was their times to shine, this year was different, because, according to Rovell, he and Kate have something special. In order to show the world what they've got going on, Rovell first penned an op-ed for CNBC.com noting why SI *had* to put Kate on the cover and then, later, during the live interview, got down on one knee and asked Upton to be is Valentine. Her turning him down was not even the most awkward part! Rather it was the icing on the trainwreck of awkward that included the fact that 1) Mrs. Rovell is due to give birth to their first child in a couple days and 2) that he got down on one knee, perhaps thinking in that split second between him getting into a position generally reserved for proposals and asking his question, 19 year-old Kate would shout "Yes, I'll marry you!" and they'd run away together. While D-Rove thought all was good, he heard that some people found the exchange a bit odd and this morning sought to set the record straight on WFAN.

First off, Darren's known Kate for two years, okay? "I know her better than anyone in the media," he told host Joe Benigno. "We're friends, I took her to the White House Correspondent's Dinner." And the best part of the relationship is that she knows it's platonic, so he doesn't have to worry about things getting weird or her, like, getting the wrong idea about his intentions and vice versa. "While every other guy out there wants to, you know, whatever, 'be with her,' she knows [what we have] is just a friendship," Rovell explained. Plus, he told her about the V-day proposal before they went on-air and she loved the idea, as did his wife who thinks it's hilarious that people are "making a big deal out of this." Also, just to close the loop on this one, Joe Kernen's known David Tepper since he was 9.

Darren Rovell Appeared On WFAN To Explain His Indecent Proposal To Kate Upton [Deadspin]
Earlier: Teenage Girl’s “Body Parts,” “Confidence” Have Been Sticking Out To CNBC Reporter Darren Rovell For Months