Christine Taylor recently shared insights into her prolonged separation from Ben Stiller and the factors that eventually rekindled their relationship.
The Brady Bunch Movie actress, 54, left no stone unturned during a recent interview on the McBride Rewind podcast, admitting that phase of her marriage to the Zoolander star was ‘challenging.’
“At that point, we were not aligned on many aspects,” Taylor revealed to host Josh McBride.
“Reflecting on it now is easier…but at the time, making that decision was incredibly challenging.”
“It was a weighty choice, filled with a sense of disillusionment because it wasn’t the outcome I had envisioned. I believed we could resolve things,” she added.
The couple, who skipped a Knicks game to grace the Met Gala last month, tied the knot in 2000 and are parents to Ella, 24, and Quinlin, 20. They publicly announced their split in 2017.
Christine Taylor spoke about her years-long separation from husband Ben Stiller and what finally led them to give their marriage another chance on the McBride Rewind podcast
‘I think at that moment in time for us we weren’t on the same page with a lot of things,’ Taylor told host Josh McBride about the couple’s decision to separate in 2017; Stiller and Taylor pictured at the Met Gala on May 4
“Despite everything, we maintained communication, co-parented effectively, and spent family time together,” Taylor mentioned.
The ‘silver lining’ of the pandemic acted as a forced pause, allowing them to re-evaluate their relationship.
‘If there’s a silver lining for us during Covid, that was the little gift,’ Taylor explained.
‘We all kind of bubbled up together with our kids. Our daughter was graduating high school at the time, our son was graduation eighth grade. We all were in the house together and we had nothing but time.
‘So Ben and I spent a lot of time just working on us with a therapist and we’d log into Zoom and we’d do our therapy sessions and really found the way back,’ she said, adding: ‘I think it’s something people don’t love to talk about because it feels like a failure.’
She went on: ‘By the way, if the right answer for us was that it didn’t work, but we were able to figure that out very clearly and focused, then that’s great too.
‘Life moves at such a rapid pace that we don’t often take the time to just pause and say, “Okay, he looked at his stuff, I looked at my stuff”… long-term marriages are a lot of work.’
Taylor stated that she and Stiller emerged from the tough time ‘really stronger and better than ever. And I feel really comfortable talking about it because I think it’s really important for people to feel like that’s okay.’
The Brady Bunch Movie actress, 54, said the ‘silver lining’ for them was the pandemic: ‘Ben and I spent a lot of time just working on us with a therapist’; pictured in April
Stiller – seen with Taylor at a Knicks game in New York City in April where Timothee Chalamet and Kylie Jenner also sat front row – previously said their marriage works now because they accept each other’s differences
Taylor said that she and Stiller came out ‘really stronger and better than ever’; the couple are pictured in September 2025 in Los Angeles
In a 2022 Esquire interview, Stiller confirmed they’d gotten back together during the pandemic while living under one roof with their children.
Having that space to talk without everyday distractions allowed their relationship to mend in all the right places.
‘We were separated and got back together and we’re happy about that. It’s been really wonderful for all of us. Unexpected, and one of the things that came out of the pandemic,’ the actor shared.
He said their marriage works now because they accept each other’s differences and similarities.
