Melissa McCarthy is celebrating a major milestone. The Bridesmaids actress married her husband, Ben Falcone, twenty years ago. To honor the special anniversary, the 55-year-old actress posted a throwback photo to Instagram, writing: "Twenty years ago today I got hit with a lucky stick! I married the love of my life and card carrying hypochondriac." Ben, 52, also shared a photo of their big day on social media. Fans of the funny couple – Ben is a comedian too – went crazy for their love, flooding the comments with many well wishes.
Melissa's Gilmore Girls co-star, Yanic Truesdale, commented on her post: "Awww it’s today! I was there 20 years ago and grateful that I'm still around to witness the love. Congrats les amoureux." And her friend and fellow Groundlings alum Octavia Spencer wrote on the post: "Congratulations you two."
Aside from their famous friends, Ben and Melissa's many fans celebrated them too. Ben's post, which he captioned: "20 years ago, this lovely lady agreed to marry me. I'm so grateful she said yes - these have been the happiest years of my life," received many comments. One person wrote: "Favorite celeb couple!" while another said: "You nabbed a good one!"
How did Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone meet?
While the actors had loosely known each other for years in the '90s having both grown up in Illinois, they officially met in 1998 in a Los Angeles comedy class at The Groundlings. "I immediately was like, 'Oh, he's strange. I like him,'" Melissa explained during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The two became friends before their relationship started.
How many children do Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone have?
After two years of marriage, the couple announced they were expecting their first child. Melissa and Ben welcomed their daughter Vivian on May 5, 2007 while she was still starring as Sookie St. James on Gilmore Girls. The writers of the show wrote Melissa's pregnancy into the plot, which upset many fans as her character explicitly did not want any more kids. Sookie's husband Jackson lied about getting a vasectomy, resulting in their third child.
In 2010, Melissa and Ben welcomed their second daughter, Georgette. After giving birth to her youngest, the Spy actress told People: "[I was] not a great pregnant woman." She continued: "I'm super round and super tired. My husband says it's like he's married to a 90-year-old because I just go out mid-sentence."
The couple keeps their children out of the spotlight. But, in 2016, Vivian desperately wanted to follow in her parents' footsteps. She asked her mom and dad if she could act in their movie, The Boss. "We kept saying flat out 'no,'" Melissa explained to Bust about her and Ben's reaction to Vivian's request. "School plays? You can do that. You don't need to be doing this as a job. You're in school. That's your job."
But, their oldest daughter ended up auditioning for the role and got the part! "I said 'Okay! Great job! Do it again when you're 20!'" Melissa joked.