Sam Champion and Rubem Robierb

Sam Champion and Rubem Robierb in New York City. / Photo Courtesy of Ida Astute

Sam Champion and Rubem Robierb attended Thomas Roberts and Patrick Abner's wedding this summer and ostensibly coming out publicly to his fans and the wider world. On December 21, N.Y. State Supreme Court Justice George J. Silver conducted the ceremony, which lasted about 10 minutes, according to sources. Although recovering from a bone marrow transplant, his GMA pal Robin Roberts, who felt well enough to attend, also played a part in the nuptials, reading a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

They were surrounded by friends, family and Champion's fellow GMA anchors. Robierb's mother and sisters even Skyped in from Brazil to be a part of the special day.

"The great thing about our relationship is that it developed outside of the noise of our professional worlds, without last names, without labels. It was just Sam and Rubem," Robierb told Out. "We started to say the words 'wedding' or 'marriage' after about six months. On New Year's Eve 2012, exactly a year after we met, I got down on my knees, nervous as hell, and asked him, 'Will you marry me?' "

Champion and Robierb have a larger wedding planned for December 31 in Miami. Champion told us how he met Rubem and on New Year's Eve two years ago. "I was party hopping, as you do in Miami, and we kept running into each other and locking eyes. Eventually he asked for my number, and a few days later we met for a date," Champion explained. "Fast-forward a year, and we are at the same New Year's party. The host silences the room to make a toast, and I'm thinking, Oh no, this is where everyone has to talk about what they're grateful for, and I'm unprepared. But then Rubem stands up and I look at him and realize he is proposing."

Robierb, an artist, grew up in a small town in the center of Brazil, and eventually moved to Miami. "When Sam and I began hanging out, I didn't know anything about him--his world was not part of my universe," he says. "I don't watch TV and I wake up at 9:30 every day."