League City couple chases $50,000 prize in national finals

Wendy and Bruce Chandler of League City are competing for a prize package valued at up to $50,000 after advancing to the finals of the 2026 America's Favorite Couple competition.

Voting in the finals closes Thursday, Sept. 10, at 7 p.m. PDT. The Chandlers were listed in second place as of Sept. 7 on the competition's official profile page. The winner will be announced on or around Friday, Oct. 9.

The grand prize includes a $20,000 honorarium, an advertorial photo shoot in Variety magazine and a dinner in Los Angeles with celebrity couples Jeff and Emilie Goldblum, Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, and Charlie Day and Mary Elizabeth Ellis, according to the competition's rules.

The national fundraising competition is operated by Colossal on behalf of the nonprofit Action Initiative Team (AIT). It benefits Oceana and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

Voters can cast one free vote per day. Additional votes come through tax-deductible donations that go to AIT, which issues grants to the two charities. Last year's competition raised more than $3.9 million for those organizations, according to a Colossal press release.

Wendy, a school psychologist, and Bruce married in 2023. Their romance grew out of a friendship that shifted during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Bruce hosted a podcast Wendy started watching. She commented on an episode, he called her, and a shared taste in singer-songwriters deepened the bond, KGTX 7 reported.

"People, even strangers, have supported us," Wendy Chandler told KGTX. She said the Clear Lake and League City communities rallied around the couple and made them feel loved.

Wendy said the support felt like the community giving back after years of the couple's own charitable work locally. She pointed to her career working with children and families as part of that commitment.

The couple married in 2023.

Bruce, who had fallen asleep after attending an Astros game the night the couple learned they'd made the finals, joked about the Sept. 10 deadline. "I'll try and stay awake for that one," he told KGTX.

Residents can vote for the Chandlers at americasfavcouple.org through Sept. 10.