Yes, chef! Fans quickly fell for Jeremy Allen White after the premiere of Hulu’s The Bear — but the leading man was already off the market.
White met his estranged-wife, Addison Timlin, when they were teens filming 2008’s Afterschool, which also starred Ezra Miller and Michael Stuhlbarg. While it’s unclear when their relationship drifted out of platonic territory, the actress hinted at her new flame during a 2013 interview with Harper’s Bazaar.
“We have a nice foundation from being friends for a long period of time, and then it took a hard right turn into romance,” Timlin teased, hesitating to mention her beau by name at the time.
By then, White had already been playing Lip Gallagher on Shameless for two years. The series, which ran for 11 seasons from 2011 to 2021, gave the actor his breakout role, but his heartthrob status wasn’t cemented until The Bear began streaming in June 2022.
“I feel like I’ve fooled everybody,” he joked during an interview with NPR when asked about the heightened attention. “I think people are attracted to [my character] Carmy. I find his determination attractive. I find his skill, like how good he is at this thing, attractive. And I also, I’ll say it, I think chefs are hot. They’re taking care of you, right? They’re really supporting you, I think. It makes sense.”
Despite being the internet’s latest obsession, White is happy to be a family man. “I have a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old at home,” he said in July 2022. “When my wife and I put them to bed, we don’t want to think about anything, so we’re into the Housewives, we’re into Below Deck. That’s our speed right now.”
The Critics’ Choice Television Award nominee became a first-time father when Timlin gave birth to daughter Ezer in October 2018. The couple tied the knot the following year before welcoming baby No. 2 in December 2020.
“Dolores Wild White- born 12/12/2020, just in time to save the year,” the Little Sister actress gushed via Instagram, dedicating her post to her husband and kids. “She is the answer to 1000 prayers and we are in love with her. … Thank you Ezer for your patience and wisdom- you’re the best big sister ever and finally to my husband, you are everything. We did it baby.”
After he won trophies at the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards in January 2023, Timlin gushed about her then-husband’s performance on The Bear.
“When we were 14 years old and I saw you perform for the first time in drama class, I couldn’t take my eyes off of you. When we’d run your lines for Shameless I’d be so tickled knowing before hand what everyone would get to witness the next day on set,” she wrote via Instagram. “When I watched the pilot for The Bear, I cried my fucking heart out. I think somewhere I must’ve known how much life was about to change, but mostly I just knew that the world was about to discover what I’ve known all along.”
The actress added: “What a privilege it’s been to know first. I love this picture so much because you look 14 and 31 at the same time- watching you win on Tuesday was one of the most overwhelming dimension hopping moments of my whole life, watching you win last night while holding our two babies was pretty out of this world too. Daddy winned [sic] another trophy winners cup. We’re so proud.”
Us Weekly confirmed in May 2023 that Timlin filed for divorce after three years of marriage.
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Scroll down for a closer look at White and Timlin’s relationship ups and downs:
