Jimmy Kimmel has been married to his wife, Molly McNearney, since 2013. She works on his late-night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which, according to a network spokesperson, will be “pre-empted indefinitely” following recent controversy, USA TODAY reported.
McNearney is Kimmel’s second wife. He was previously married to Gina Maddy Kimmel from 1988 to 2003, and they share two adult children.
Jimmy and McNearney met on the set of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and later got engaged while on safari in South Africa, according to People. They now have two children together, making Jimmy a father of four. McNearney currently serves as the show’s executive producer and co-head writer. She has also worked on The Academy Awards and Emmy Awards shows, her IMDb page says.
McNearney previously spoke to Glamour Magazine about falling in love with Jimmy. In 2014, the outlet revealed that “the most interesting aspect of their relationship is that technically, Jimmy is Molly’s boss."
She worked her way up through the ranks at the show, according to Glamour, starting a decade before as a writer's assistant.
"The writing staff is in the building next door, and Jimmy's office is in the theater," McNearney told Glamour. "Most of us write from home in the morning, and then we email all of our ideas to Jimmy. We are very separate from him, which is pretty good because he has to remain focused. When we all are together, it can get a little distracting!"
She said he "insulted" her jokingly in their first meeting. "When I first met him, he insulted me! The executive producer brought me into his office and said, 'This is Molly; she's my new assistant,'" she told Glamour. "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 told the publication that, at first, she didn't think of him romantically because he was her boss, but that changed in 2000. "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.