Real-Life Love
Kaitlin Olson & Rob McElhenney Reveal How Their ‘It’s Always Sunny’ Romance Almost Never Happened
For Kaitlin Olson and Rob McElhenney, looking back on their whirlwind romance will always be a sunny time. The couple first met when Olson auditioned for the role of Sweet Dee for McElhenney’s show, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Olson and McElhenney have been married since 2008 and now have two kids, Axel and Leo. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is headed into its 17th season. However, if one decision had been different, these two might not have found their happy ever after together.
The day Olson went in to read for the role of Sweet Dee, McElhenney was directing, and the actress left out the funniest line that McElhenney had written. At first, McElhenney was hesitant about casting Olson and nearly didn’t. “He caved and settled,” Olson told Variety. “And then I passed on the project.”
After discussing Sweet Dee’s character arc with McElhenney, Olson signed on to play the character. During the second season of the show, that’s when Olson started to develop romantic feelings for her costar.
“Much like John Landgraf, I was very impressed with this guy who wrote this thing, who was a waiter, just how well he ran our television show,” the actress said. “He looked like he was about 14 years old, and he just was, like, this little boy who just knew what he was doing. He was so smart; he was so funny; he was great at collaborating. I remember calling my friend and being like, ‘I think I’m attracted to this person, but when I hug him, I can wrap my arms all the way around his body and back into myself. He’s very thin and young.’ He was not my type at all, and I was falling in love with him. And, um, he didn’t feel the same way.”
Everett Collection / FX
McElhenney was determined to keep their relationship professional, but one weekend changed everything. Coincidentally, it was the weekend their costars Charlie Day and Mary Elizabeth Ellis got married.
“I was finding myself on set, being in love with someone secretly, and thinking, ‘This is bad,'” the High Potential star revealed. “I wasn’t just attracted to him anymore. I quickly fell very hard in love with him.”
When they first started dating, Olson and McElhenney kept their relationship a secret from their costars. While Danny DeVito wasn’t surprised by their romance, Day and Glenn Howerton were thrown off by it. “I had zero suspicion,” Day admitted. “I didn’t see it coming at all. And conversely, didn’t care one way or the other.”
Over the course of their nearly two decades together, Olson and McElhenney’s relationship has only gotten stronger. In 2023, McElhenney was diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders, which provided clarity in their marriage.
“Rob’s an amazing person and my best friend and my life partner, and he’s the best. He’s also really hard to live with sometimes, and it was nice to have some answers,” Olson told Variety. “Looking back, even when we were dating, there would be times where I’d be like, ‘That’s f**king weird. What is this thing that’s going on?’ It gives me the language to ask questions and open up a conversation, and now we can talk about that stuff, and I don’t just quietly go assume that he’s being disrespectful, because he’s not.”
Despite multiple projects and kids, the actors are dedicated to their marriage. “I’m really proud of us for making our marriage important and a priority,” Olson gushed. “When we’re stuck, I have a therapist and he has a therapist. I’m really happy about the fact that I’m married to someone who doesn’t have a negative association with therapy. If there’s a time we need help, we go get the help, and then we move on.”
