Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen “are still hopelessly in love” after 25 years of marriage as they discuss how to keep the romance alive during quarantine
They know a thing or two about how to keep the magic alive.
Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen admitted that they are still ‘hopelessly in love’ after 25 years of marriage, when they appeared on the cover of PEOPLE’s first annual Love Issue.
The couple reflected on their relationship after being quarantined with each other for the past nine months amid the global pandemic at their home in Los Angeles.
Mary, 67, admitted before her socially distant photo shoot that they ‘have been alone, except today, for the past nine months’.
She added: ‘And we decided to be together.’
Danson, 73, added: ‘Every morning we can choose. It is a rule. ‘
The two met when he auditioned to play her husband in the 1983 Cross Creek film – and failed to get the part.
Lucky in love: The couple reflected on their relationship after being quarantined with each other for the past nine months amid the global pandemic at their home in Los Angeles; seen in 1994
Dear Ones: Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen admitted that they are “hopelessly in love” after 25 years of marriage, when they appeared on the cover of PEOPLE’s first annual Love Issue; seen in 2018
“Which is a miracle, because, man, I was a mess at the time,” he admitted before Steenburgen added: “I was married. He got married. That was not our moment. ‘
When they met years later, in the 1993 Pontiac Moon movie, ‘we had both given up on relationships,’ said Steenburgen.
“We both said the same sentence to ourselves, which was, ‘Obviously, we can’t be in a relationship,'” recalled Danson. ‘I could ruin anything. I am not relationship material. ‘
He had just ended a public relationship with Whoopi Goldberg and ended his divorce from his second wife, Casey Coates.
“There is no void in my heart where I don’t love him or where I doubt that love,” said Steenburgen. ‘There is no secret place where I say that we shouldn’t, one thousand percent, spend our lives together’
Blessed: With four children in his mixed family – she has two children from her first marriage to Malcom McDowell, while he has two daughters with his second wife – they ‘appreciate’ the life they have created together; seen in 2013
“I don’t want to look corny, but I would sign up for 100 more lives,” said Steenburgen; photographed at the LA women’s march in 2018
Their initial reactions were ‘that guy looks kind of complicated’, but they both felt an attraction. “I was not ready for anything like a relationship,” she added. ‘We just continue to work together and become better and better friends.’
After a romantic outdoor adventure in Mendocino, California, the two were inseparable.
“It was very magical,” said the star of The Good Place. “We came back in love, to be honest, or I will say in love.”
With four children in her mixed family – she has two children from her first marriage to Malcom McDowell, while he has two daughters with his second wife – they ‘appreciate’ the life they have created together.
“I want as much time as possible in my life with Mary,” said Danson. ‘I know it will have all its difficult parts, but I want to experience love in all of these moments.’
“I don’t want to sound corny, but I would sign up for another 100 lives,” said Steenburgen.
‘There is no void in my heart where I do not love him, or where I doubt that love. There is no secret place where I say that we shouldn’t, one thousand percent, spend our lives together.
“I want as much time as possible in my life with Mary,” said Danson. ‘I know it will have all its difficult parts, but I want to experience love in all of these moments.’ (seen in 2018)