Before Dana Perino became a household name as a political analyst and former White House Press Secretary, she had her own surprising love story—one that could easily be mistaken for a scene out of a romantic movie.
It all began in 1997, on an ordinary flight to Chicago. Perino had no clue that sitting next to her on that plane would be the man she’d end up marrying: Peter McMahon. The meeting was pure coincidence—and it almost didn’t happen.
Both running behind schedule, Dana and Peter were the last two people to board the flight. The only two seats left? Right next to each other.
That unexpected pairing turned into something unforgettable. Perino recalled in a conversation with the American Enterprise Institute that McMahon asked if he could stash his bag in the overhead bin above their seats. She turned to reply—and noticed his British accent right away. “Accent,” she remembers thinking with a smile.
That voice wasn’t the only thing that stood out. She quickly realized he was attractive—and single.
As the flight went on, her curiosity grew. But once they landed, they each went their separate ways. McMahon was headed back to the UK, and Perino had no idea if she’d ever hear from him again. Before parting, she gave him her contact info. Then—radio silence.
Ten days later, just as she was starting to move on, she got an email. That message rekindled the spark—and changed everything.
Within less than a year, Perino made the bold decision to move to England to be with him.
They married in 1998, and over 25 years later, they’re still going strong.
But their love story wasn’t without hesitation. Dana admitted she initially kept her distance emotionally—mainly due to their age difference. At just 25, she wasn’t sure if she and 43-year-old Peter were meant to be. “What are we doing? This can’t work,” she remembered thinking.
Adding to the uncertainty was the long-distance element—Perino was about to enter a major new phase in her career, while McMahon was based across the Atlantic. Despite those hurdles, she later wrote in a Fox News piece that choosing him was the “best decision [she] ever made.”
Reflecting on their story, Perino often marvels at how it all came together. “It still feels impossible,” she once wrote. “What if I’d missed the flight? Or been seated somewhere else?”
But fate had other plans. And more than two decades later, that chance meeting at 30,000 feet remains the beginning of a love story that neither of them could have ever predicted.
