Ben Stiller isn't taking his second chance at love with Christine Taylor for granted.
meanwhile Thursday’s episode of “The View,” The actor reflected on his decision to get back together with his wife in 2022 after several years of separation that began in 2017.
“I don't take for granted every day that we're together. At least I know I don't,” he said. “Because I know it could be gone. For me, that's a gift to our relationship and that we have it every day.”
“Really,” the “Meet the Parents” actor gushed. [is] I'm very happy,” he said, adding that they made the “right” decision to get back together.
Stiller, 59, went into detail about their reconciliation, admitting that she has no idea “how it happened,” other than that they both decided “that's what I wanted.”
“We've been married for 25 years, but we know we have to work hard,” he recalled. “You know, COVID happened and we all gathered together at home with our families. I don't know, but I'm just grateful.”
“The View” co-host Joy Behar (who previously spoke about her divorce from her first husband, Joseph) agreed, saying, “Instead of blaming the other person, it's important to take responsibility for what you did. It can be helpful,” he said. ”
“No, I don't know about that,” he joked, before adding:[I] I just have a wonderful wife. ”
Stiller and Taylor, 53, met the previous year on the set of the movie Heat Vision and Jack and married in 2000. They announced their separation in a joint statement in 2017.
“After 18 years together as husband and wife, with great love and respect for each other, we have made the decision to separate,” the statement read. “Our top priority is to raise our children as devoted parents and closest friends.”
The “Dodgeball” co-stars, who share daughter Ella, 22, and son Quinlin, 19, have never officially filed for divorce. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, they reunited with their children and lived together.
“Then it evolved over time,” Stiller said. told Esquire 2022, the year he and Taylor's romance became official again. “We were apart and now we're together again and I'm happy about it. It was really great for all of us. It was unexpected and brought on by the pandemic. It’s one of those things.”
The Zoolander actor added that they learned a new level of “respect” for each other in their “similarities and differences.”
“I think if you accept that, you'll appreciate the other person more because you're not trying to get them to change for you,” he said. “Once you embrace that, you save a lot of energy.”
