Aurora Starchild
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia fans probably remember a point during the series run when they discovered Dee and Mac were more than just co-stars. It was shocking yet made so much sense. The Gang’s dynamic has a certain je nais se quois: they come together week after week, year after year to tickle our funny bones in a way that never gets old as they continue to outdo themselves with their sociopathic and drunk antics.
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Kaitlin Olson and Rob McEhenney Have Co-Starred in Always Sunny for Nearly 20 Years
Always Sunny stars Danny DeVito as Frank Reynolds, Kaitlin Olson and Glenn Howerton as his adult children Dee and Dennis, Charlie Day as Charlie Kelly, and Rob McElhenney as Mac. It’s the longest-running live-action comedy series with 18 seasons and counting. That also means that the cast and crew run a tight ship. After all, spending that much time with the same people while continuing to create jaw-dropping humor that lives up to your cult fan base can’t be easy.
So, when Kaitlin Olson and Rob McElhenney realized they were in love with each other, a lot was at stake. They hadn’t even gotten halfway through season 1 when they started to feel it. But dating your co-star can and often does go horribly wrong. Thankfully, Kaitlin Olson trusted her gut and heart enough to put her fears aside and make the first move. Almost 20 years after they first met, the couple is still madly in love and have two children together. This is the story of how they went from co-stars to secret lovers to husband and wife.
Kaitlin Olson Made the First Move
“It was very awkward, just awkward. I remember going to a game night at Charlie [Day] and Elizabeth [Ellis]’s and he was there, and I’d been drinking, ‘cause that’s how I handled being nervous around him,” Olson told Dax Shepard on his Armchair Expert podcast. “I would just move in to sit at the game and back up in between his legs, and like, move myself into his lap… And he was just like, ‘What—what are you doing?’ That’s the other thing about Rob. He’s unbelievably direct. Like, honest to a fault.”
The two started dating but kept it completely secret from everyone on the show. At the time, McElhenney actually lived with Glenn Howerton. They both starred in and were creators of the show. And obviously, it was a vulnerable point in the show’s history as it was just starting out. If he and Olson messed this up, it could have spoiled not just their personal dynamic but the show’s as well.
They Dated in Secret at First
“We were very sneaky at first because we thought, This is a really bad idea. But then I fell in love with him,” Olson told InStyle.
Olson told Shepard that Howerton was so clueless about their relationship, he thought McElhenney was going out and hooking up with tons of different ladies.
“Glenn would come to work jealous and be like, ‘God, Rob is just like, he’s just out there at bars, just like, meeting people? F—ing every bar he goes to, he goes and spends the night at her house!'” she said.
Olson and McElhenney Weren’t Impressed With Each Other Initially
Olson also once said that her first impression of McElhenney and his of her weren’t exactly positive when they initially met in 2004. She told EW that her manager had asked her if any of the Always Sunny cast members were cute after her first audition and she responded, “Nah. Not really.” She added that she “take[s] it all back now” though.
Olson also didn’t exactly “wow” McElhenney or Howerton at her audition, either. “I left the room and Rob was like, How did she leave out the funniest line that was in there? and he didn’t want to cast me,” Olson told BuzzFeed. “Rob, who I’ve now married, had to be talked into hiring me.”
McElhenney echoed that sentiment to EW, saying she was “flustered” that day. “She wasn’t that great the first time,” he chided.
But Then They Fell Madly In Love
Needless to say, all that was water under the bridge during season 2. The two were spending every weekend together and falling more deeply in love each day. Kaitlin Olson told Dax Shepard that Rob wanted to keep things “casual,” but she knew he was more in love with her than he was admitting even to herself. She felt it and the feelings were reciprocated in her, too.
“It was a very interesting dynamic,” Olson said. “Like, once I fell in love with him, I realized that I was deeply in love with him in a way that I hadn’t been in love with anyone before.”
She added that she was aware of Rob’s cluelessness but confident that he was the one. “This person is completely in love with me—and he has no idea.’ It was no problem for me,” she said. “It wasn’t even a game. It was just like, ‘Oh, you don’t know, you have no idea that you are completely in love with me. That’s so cute!’”
Olson’s Reaction to McElhenney Peeing the Bed Won His Heart Over
After couple of years of dating, Rob McElhenney realized that Kaitlin Olson was his forever person. It wasn’t your typical defining moment, however. He admitted on the Always Sunny podcast that they’d been drinking the night before and woke up with a soaked bed. He’d wet himself — and her — while they were sleeping, and her reaction won him over.
“She was like, ‘Man you sweat like crazy last night. The sheets are soaking wet,’” said McElhenney. “She thought it was the funniest thing, and I was like, ‘I’m marrying this chick,’” he said. They finally opened up about their relationship to the rest of the cast of Always Sunny by the end of season 2.
Rob Proposed to Kaitlin at Danny DeVito’s House
In 2007, Rob proposed to Kaitlin while they were at Danny DeVito’s beach house in Malibu. They got married at a vineyard in September 2008. Their wedding featured stunning and down-to-earth décor, with potted plants instead of cut bouquets and a 4-tier cake featuring buttercream lily of the valley flowers and sugar grass leaves.
On September 1, 2010, the couple welcomed their first child, Axel Lee. Olson, who was 35 at the time, told People that she went into labor during a Dodgers / Phillies game. “As soon as Ryan Howard hit a three-run home run, we felt comfortable leaving to go have our baby,” she said. “We love him like crazy, even though he made us miss the second half of the game.”
Their second child, Leo Grey, was born on April 5, 2012. Olson tweeted that she was in labor for 23 hours before he came! “We’re in love,” she said.
After nearly two decades together, Kaitlin and Rob will be celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary this September. Their kids are now almost 11 and 13 and absolutely adorable. Olson is constantly posting cute photos of herself with her three guys. “Two ovaries, seven balls,” she wrote this past summer with the hashtag #summervacation.
