Melissa McCarthy has been famous since back in the day when Gilmore Girls was airing on The WB, and for as long as Melissa’s been in our lives, her husband Ben Falcone has been in hers. These two have a super low-key relationship despite Ben appearing on multiple red carpets alongside Melissa, not to mention pretty much every single one of her movies. Like, the air marshal in Bridesmaids? Him. In fact, lemme just:
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Anyway, there’s a reason these two are still going strong while everyone else in Hollywood breaks up around them (31 couples in 2023 alone!), so let’s get into details.
The Roaring ’90s
Ben and Melissa vaguely knew each other when he was in high school and she was in college. By which I mean he knew who she was, and she had no idea who he was. 🙂 Oh, and apparently he was “terrified” of her because she wore a cape around campus.
Here, just watch them tell the story, it’s v cute:
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A couple years later, both Ben and Melissa ended up in Los Angeles and joined the Groundlings.
According to Ben, they used to go for beers at The Snake Pit and realized they were staying “later than everyone else” because they wanted an excuse to hang. Things went from friends to dating pretty soon after that.
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2003
Ben made an appearance on Gilmore Girls, and fortunately the scene in question is lurking on TikTok for all of us to watch.
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2005
After several years of dating, Melissa and Ben got married! The ceremony was super private, but then everyone joined Instagram, throwback photos became a thing, and as a result we got to see pics from the big day via an anniversary post. Bless!
2007
Ben and Melissa welcomed their first child, Vivian, and Melissa’s pregnancy was written into Gilmore Girls. They also attended their first ~official event~ together!
2010
A couple years after welcoming Vivian, Ben and Melissa welcomed their second daughter, Georgette! No pics of her as a bb, but stay tuned for her first red carpet appearance at The Little Mermaid premiere.
2011
Bridesmaids came out, and Melissa and Ben hit up the premiere looking extremely cute.
2012
Melissa and Ben casually attended their first Oscars together after she was nominated for Bridesmaids.
2013
The couple started their production company On the Day Productions and got to work making Tammy. They gave a joint statement to The Hollywood Reporter around this time, saying, “We’ve been writing together for longer than we’ve been married. To be able to produce our own work and other people’s work that we are so passionate about is really a dream come true.”
2015
Melissa and Ben hit up the Golden Globes!
And Ben was there to support Melissa as she got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2019
Melissa was nominated for another Academy Award (this time for Can You Ever Forgive Me?), and Ben was right by her side—which makes sense since he co-starred in the film.
But mostly we’re here to talk about their post-Oscars Vanity Fair track suits.
2021
We were treated to even more wedding photos thanks to the couple celebrating their 16-year anniversary!
2022
A source told Us Weekly that “They both support each other’s careers and are creative with each other at home, they’re really each other’s biggest fans in every way.” Love to hear it.
Meanwhile, Ben and Melissa invested in a whiskey company out of New Mexico, joining the legions of celebs who own alcohol brands.
Side note before we move onto 2023…this feels important:
2023
Melissa and Ben made a rare appearance with their daughter Georgette at the premiere of The Little Mermaid!
That brings us up to date, but we’ll keep you updated with any other cuteness that happens this year!
Mehera Bonner is a celebrity and entertainment news writer who enjoys Bravo and Antiques Roadshow with equal enthusiasm, She was previously entertainment editor at Marie Claire and has covered pop culture for over a decade.