CBS, Jeffrey R. Staab/Associated Press
David Letterman shocked his audience – and just about everyone he knows – by announcing on his show Monday night that he had quietly gone to a courthouse in Teton, Mont., Thursday afternoon and married his long-time girlfriend Regina Lasko. Mr. Letterman dropped the word after his monologue, and just after he congratulated the actor Bruce Willis for getting married last week.
Mr. Letterman and Ms. Lasko are already parents of a son, Harry, who is now five years old. The courtship has been extended. Mr. Letterman noted that he began dating Ms. Lasko in February 1986.
Many guests on Mr. Letterman’s show, notably Julia Roberts, have tweaked him about his reluctance to marry. Mr. Letterman had sworn off marriage after he and his first wife, Michelle Cook, were divorced in 1977.
David Letterman has married his girlfriend of more than 20 years.David Letterman, host of the late night American television show ''Late Show with David Letterman'', has married his girlfriend of 23 years, he told studio audience during a taping of his show on Monday.

Letterman, 61, announced he and Regina Lasko, with whom he has a five-year old son, were wed in a courthouse ceremony in Choteau in Teton County, Montana last week, near the ranch they own together.

"They say, 'Well, why did it take you so long to get married?' and, of course, the answer honestly is we wanted to make sure we had the prenup just right," Letterman joked.

Letterman and Lasko began their relationship in 1986. Their son, Harry, was present for the ceremony. The late night talk show host previously swore off marriage after his 1977 divorce with Michelle Cook.

"I secretly felt that men who were married admired me ... like I was the last of the real gunslingers," Letterman said during his Monday show, where he made the announcement shortly after congratulating Bruce Willis for getting married last week.

Letterman told the audience he nearly missed the ceremony because his truck became stuck in mud two miles from their house. The ceremony was delayed one hour while Letterman walked back in 50 mile per hour winds to get his car.

"And the whole way, I'm thinking, 'See ... you try to get married and this is what happens,'" he said.