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[Tea · Sports TV] "Charissa Thompson" jumped to No. 1 on Google Trends in the US this week because of about two seconds of pregame footage.
What happened According to the Mirror US and the Daily Mail, Amazon Prime Video's "Thursday Night Football" host Charissa Thompson, 44, interviewed Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton, 62, before Denver's Week 6 game against the Seattle Seahawks. They talked about Seattle's defense and how Payton planned to help quarterback Bo Nix. As the interview ended, Payton pulled Thompson in and kissed her on the cheek.
The context The two aren't strangers. The Mirror notes that Payton worked with Thompson on FOX's NFL coverage in 2022, after he left the New Orleans Saints and before he took the Denver job in 2023. Thompson has worked on and off at FOX for much of her career, joined Amazon's TNF crew in late 2022, and still hosts "FOX NFL Kickoff." Neither of them has commented publicly on the moment, according to the reports we checked.
How fans reacted Viewers called it "super weird." Others pointed out they used to be colleagues. Some joked about it. We're not repeating the speculation about their relationship that some posts raised. There's no reporting to support it, and treating a greeting as a romance claim is exactly how rumors start.
Why it hit a nerve Greetings between broadcasters and the people they cover vary a lot. In some workplaces and cultures, a cheek kiss between old colleagues is ordinary. In others, especially in a professional setting on live TV, it reads as overly familiar. The debate online wasn't about these two in particular. It was about where the line sits.
Workplace boundaries, in practice - Default to the least physical greeting, such as a handshake or a nod, unless you know the other person welcomes more. - Make it mutual. A greeting that one person initiates and the other has to absorb on camera is different from one both clearly expect. - Context matters. What's fine at a reunion dinner can feel different in front of a live national audience. - Speak up if it's you. If a colleague's greeting makes you uncomfortable, saying "I'm more of a handshake person" early is easier than letting it become a pattern. - If you're the one greeting, notice the other person's body language and take it seriously.
The bottom line On the record, this was a cheek kiss between former colleagues at the end of an interview. That's all the reporting supports. The reaction says more about changing expectations of on-air professionalism than about either person.
More awkward on-air moments are in our sports and celebrity tags.
