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Jimmy KimmelandMolly McNearneyworked together for six years onJimmy Kimmel Live!before their workplace chemistry led to a real-life romance.
As a writer and executive producer for the show, McNearney developed a camaraderie with Kimmel while the two weredatingother people. They eventually both found themselves single and after the late-night show host prepared a meal ofMcNearney’s favorite foods, the pair made their relationship official. They gotengagedwhile on safari in Africa andtied the knotin 2013 in Ojai, California.
Since then, McNearney and Kimmel have welcomed two kids together and collaborated to support several philanthropic causes, including Alex’s Lemonade Stand.
Here’s everything we know about Jimmy Kimmel’s wife, Molly McNearney.
She is the executive producer and co-head writer ofJimmy Kimmel Live!
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McNearney and Kimmel aren’t just partners at home, they are co-workers too. She is the executive producer and co-head writer atJimmy Kimmel Live!and has also worked on thePrimetime Emmy Awardsand theOscars. McNearney executive produced the95th annual Academy Awards, which Kimmel hosted in March 2023.
She occasionallyappears on Kimmel’s show, and at times, Kimmel has mentioned her during segments. The Oscars host toldMatt Jamesthat McNearney hadguessed who the final three contestantswould be on James' season ofThe Bachelor, and her picks were pretty close.
“I don’t think there is a thought process, she just kind of looks at them. Sometimes she picks before the show starts and she just looks at a picture and decides, and somehow she gets it right,” Kimmel said on air, adding that McNearney thoughtRachael Kirkconnellwould be James' “bride.”
During an appearance on the podcastSmartless, Kimmel admitted that work often bleeds into his home life with McNearney.
“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],” he told the hosts. “Deep in my skull, I think to myself, ‘This is her job, so it’s okay for me to do this.’ That’s how I rationalize it.”
She and Kimmel started dating in 2010
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The producer worked for Kimmel for six years before the two began a romantic relationship.
“When I first met him, he insulted me,” McNearney recalled of their first encounter during an interview withGlamour. “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.’ "
“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,” McNearney toldGlamour.
She got engaged to Kimmel in South Africa
After about three years of dating, Kimmelasked McNearney to marry himwhile the pair were vacationing in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.
“After Jimmy and Sarah [Silverman] broke up, Molly and Jimmy both found themselves single, and they clicked,” a source told PEOPLE at the time. “They’re really happy together.”
Prior to their engagement, the couple was slow to share the news of their relationship with their co-workers.
“I was very, very nervous because I love our writers so much, and we work so closely together. I was also the only female writer in the room at the time, and I didn’t want to change the dynamic,” McNearney toldGlamour.“We love to make fun of Jimmy over here, myself included. When you have camaraderie with your co-workers, one of the parts of that is making fun of the boss a little bit, and now to think, That’s the guy I’m dating, I didn’t want that to stop.”
She married Kimmel in 2013
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McNearney and Kimmel weremarriedon July 13, 2013, in Ojai, California. Guests included stars such asMatt Damon,Ben Affleck,Emily BluntandJennifer Aniston. The couple requested guests make a charitable contribution in lieu of gifts.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, McNearney opened up about their relationship and jokingly called Kimmel “the greatest wife you could ask for.”
“When we started dating, I would go back and forth between my place and his,” McNearney continued. “I have my stuff at my house, and I like my own space. One time, he was in the bathroom for a very long time, and I just figured something was going on internally.”
The executive producer added, “A few days later, he presented me with this big box that had two of everything in my makeup and Dopp kit, because he saw that I was lugging stuff back and forth, and he wanted me to be comfortable in his home. He was in the bathroom for that hour and a half with my bag going through every single thing: every lotion, razor, deodorant, shampoo, makeup.”
She has two kids with Kimmel
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The couple share two children together: daughterJaneand sonWilliam “Billy” John. The late-night host also has two children from his first marriage, Katie and Kevin.
The couple’s son, Billy, was born with a congenital heart condition and had to undergo three heart surgeries after he was born. Kimmel has beenvery candid about the experienceon his show and praised McNearney during a 2017 episode for being “so strong and level-headed and positive and loving during the worst nightmare a new mother could experience.”
In 2018, Kimmelposteda Mother’s Day tribute to McNearney onInstagramwith a photo of their children.
“Happy #MothersDay to every Mom, especially my wife Molly- you are even more beautiful with weird little people hanging onto you,” he wrote.
She is open about her son’s health challenges
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McNearney is also very open about her son Billy’s health issues. During an appearance onAnna Faris' podcastUnqualified, the mother of twoopened up about the experience. “Kids are so resilient — he had open-heart surgery on a Monday and we were home on Friday,” she said.
When Kimmel returned to work after Billy’s surgery, McNearney was unprepared for her husband’semotional monologueabout their son.
“So, there I am, in my living room breastfeeding Billy with my mom beside me, and we’re watching,” McNearney recalled in an interview withTheHollywood Reporter. “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 added, “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.”
She dislikes Kimmel’s “hoarder” tendencies
McNearney isn’t a fan of all the “stuff” Kimmel accumulates, so she created a segment onJimmy Kimmel Live!called “Win Jimmy’s Crap.”
“You know marriage isn’t easy,” Kimmel told the audience. “One of the biggest ongoing conflicts I have with my wife is about stuff. She doesn’t like mine. She likes hers.”
“The man doesn’t know how to clean up or get rid of stuff. He is bordering on hoarder,” she shared on an episode of her husband’s podcast,Strike Force Five, which he hosts with four other late-night talk show hosts.
She and Kimmel have joint charity interests
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The pair have been known for theircharitable giving. In 2020, the coupleannouncedthat they would match donations up to $25,000 to the Los Angeles-based charity St. Joseph’s Center.
“Let’s make sure that every kid gets presents this year,” Kimmel wrote onInstagramat the time.
She has accompanied Kimmel to numerous award shows
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McNearney has been Kimmel’s plus-one to award shows and red carpet events for more than a decade.
In January 2024, the couple attended the 75th annualEmmy Awardsin Los Angeles. McNearney turned heads in a body-hugging red dress, while Kimmel looked handsome in a black tux.
source: people.com
