Emily Engberg: Is the kitten on the prowl?

It was brought to my attention today that the excitable little imp from Twin Cities Live might no longer be married.

For some reason our local chat fests like to have wacky reporters out combing the streets, showing us just how fascinating the Twin Cities is. It’s not a hard-and-fast rule, but whether it be Gary Lumpkin of days past or Emily Engberg of today’s knock off of Good Company, you want somebody who people think is amusing, despite the fact you’d find him or her annoying if he or she was a member of your extended family.

Engberg’s appeal baffles me. She’s not particularly funny, although she thinks she’s entertaining. She’s easy on the eyes, which always helps, but her presence won’t command a room. (That’s not necessarily negative.) She can speak fluently, but she doesn’t dazzle you with intelligent observations or shrewd commentary. But she does what people want her to do, evidently, so job well done, Emily. You’re the female Eric Perkins.

As the story goes, an anecdote she shared on Twin Cities Live left out any mention of her husband. This was notable for two reasons. One, in the past she has made it clear that she’s married to some sort of Conway Twitty wannabe. Two, she was talking about a home improvement issue, evidently, something in which the counsel of her husband might have been reasonable.

Online research that I was able to verify without too much trouble showed that a few years ago Engberg was pimping some sort of concert by her then-husband Dustin Lee via Engberg’s Facebook page. A click to Lee’s linked Facebook page says today he’s engaged to somebody else.

I don’t watch TCL very often. I like to see what kind of fluff they’re passing off as a human-interest topic, and how close they come to simply pimping goods and services of local businesses. (They come damn close. I keep waiting to see a disclaimer pop up denoting a segment is a paid advertisement. It’s only a matter of time with that show.)

Although I don’t watch the show very often, TCL and Engberg weren’t shy about pimping Lee’s music and his marriage to Engberg in the past. Lee performed on the show, and they didn’t hide the fact why he was singing his honky tonk tunes on the show.

I can’t speak to whether or not Engberg ever spoke of her divorce on the show. I’d bet not, but I don’t know that.

Divorce is a part of life. What was once a social stigma is now a common practice. More than half the marriages in this country end in divorce, so it’s really no big deal. I guess it is a big deal when a person’s spouse turns out to be a cheater or the nuptials end within months of the pledge of everlasting love. But it’s not shocking when a marriage ends. Some people practically embrace it, as if it’s a sign that both partners have grown as humans, and subsequently grown apart.

Our local “celebrities” get divorced. It’s a part of life. If you’re on a talk show, TV or radio, referencing your spouse is hard to avoid. And if you get married, you have to talk all about it. Just ask TCL newlywed Elizabeth Ries.

But why is it that our precious broadcasting talent isn’t so quick to announce the termination of their marriage? I know, nobody likes to admit they’ve failed. And divorce is a type of failure.

Good news, heterosexual men of the Twin Cities, the imp is not married. She’d look good on the arm of a lot of executives, so perhaps she rebounded as quickly as her cowpoke ex-husband. But if not, then perhaps you’ll get lucky and stumble upon her when she’s out hamming it up for the camera. If you can stomach her antics, perhaps you can marry a real Twin Cities celebrity!