Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney were colleagues for six years on Jimmy Kimmel Live! before their relationship evolved into something more.
McNearney, who began dating Kimmel in 2009, explained how their workplace friendship transitioned into a romance. “All the writers would socialize after the show, and we would just hang out more and more. We really liked each other as friends, and then it just kind of turned. He cooked for me, and that was it. It sealed the deal,” she told Glamour in 2014.
The pair got engaged while on a safari in Africa in 2012 and exchanged vows in Ojai, California, in 2013. (Kimmel previously wed Gina Maddy in 1988 but the couple got divorced in 2002. They share daughter Katherine and son Kevin, whom they welcomed in 1991 and 1993, respectively.)
The late night host expanded his family when he and McNearney welcomed daughter Jane in July 2014, and son Billy arrived in April 2017.
Scroll through for a timeline of their relationship:
2003
McNearney joined the talk show’s team as an assistant to the executive producer — and didn’t have the best initial interaction with her future husband. (She’s since risen the ranks to co-head writer and executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live!)
“When I first met him, he insulted me,” McNearney recalled to Glamour. “The executive producer brought me into his office and said, ‘This is Molly; she’s my new assistant.’ Jimmy barely looked up from his desk until my EP said, ‘She competes in triathlons,’ and then Jimmy looked up at me and said, ‘That is really stupid! What a waste of time.’”
She explained that Kimmel proceeded to win her over with food, saying, “He cooked for me, and that was it. It sealed the deal.”
August 2012
After nearly a decade together, Kimmel popped the question while on a safari in Africa.
July 2013
The pair tied the knot at the Ojai Valley Inn in front of several of their A-list pals, including Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon and Ellen DeGeneres.
February 2014
Kimmel revealed his wife was pregnant during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, saying, “It’s funny, because I was just with some friends who had a baby. I was like, ‘Oh, yeah.’ There’s new ways to do things.”
While joking about baby news, he quipped, “Karate or The Riddler are the names we’re thinking of right now…And I would like the baby’s middle name to be Effin. And not the curse version of it, like e-f-f-i-n. Like Ellen Effin DeGeneres. I mean, what a great name, right?”
July 2014
Kimmel celebrated the arrival of daughter Jane in a sweet post via X, writing, “Congratulations to my beautiful and very tough wife @mollymcnearney on delivering our baby girl this morning. Thanks for all your kind baby wishes—turns out, not ALL tweets are mean!”
McNearney, for her part, wrote, “Kids, don’t do drugs. Until you have a baby. Then do ALL OF THEM.”
A rep for Kimmel also confirmed the baby news to Us Weekly, saying that McNearney was “doing great.”
April 2017
Kimmel and McNearney welcomed son Bill, who underwent multiple surgeries for congenital heart defects after his birth. Kimmel revealed the news during a monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and McNearney later shared that she wasn’t prepared for how emotional it would be.
“So, there I am, in my living room breastfeeding Billy with my mom beside me, and we’re watching,” McNearney told The Hollywood Reporter in December 2017. “I sobbed through the entire thing. I couldn’t believe the strength that it took to tell that story a week after it happened. He didn’t have to do that.”
She continued, “Our family has excellent health care; he had nothing to gain from that. He did it for the other people whom we met in that hospital. He came home that night, and I just hugged him and I wouldn’t let go.”
In February 2018, DeGeneres surprised Kimmel when she revealed that the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles had named a room on its Heart Institute floor after Billy. “Wow,” Kimmel said as he wiped tears from his eyes and planted a kiss on DeGeneres’ cheek.
September 2018
Kimmel joked during an episode of his late night show that McNearney has more love for Beyoncé than she does for him.
“My wife loves Beyoncé,” he said. “I’d say she loves Beyoncé more than she loves me, but that’d be like saying she loves rainbows more than she loves the stomach virus. That’s how not close it is between me and Beyoncé.”
He continued, “If, for whatever reason, Beyoncé ever decided to say, ‘That’s it ladies, these men are animals. They’re never going to change. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough. Get in formation. It’s time to kill every single one of them.’ On the off chance that happens, I don’t want to be present, OK? Because I know when it comes to picking sides, my wife is on Beyoncé’s side.”
September 2020
Kimmel gave insight into his and McNearney’s coworker relationship during an appearance on the “SmartLess” podcast, saying, “I will sometimes dream a joke or think of something in the middle of the night, and then what I do is, because I cannot hold it in, I will wait until she’s stirring and then I’ll tell her what I thought (up). Deep in my skull, I think to myself, This is her job, so it’s OK for me to do this. That’s how I rationalize it.”
December 2020
Kimmel announced via Instagram that he and McNearney would match donations up to $25,000 to St. Joseph Center, a Los Angeles-based charity that aids struggling families, to spread cheer during the holiday season.
“Let’s make sure that every kid gets presents this year. @StJosephCtr makes sure that children in LA & their parents have food to eat and gifts to open. $25 can help bring holiday cheer to those who badly need it,” he wrote, alongside a pic of Jane and Billy giggling together inside a cardboard box underneath a Christmas tree.
