Christine Taylor says her separation from Ben Stiller in 2017 was “very difficult” and weighed on both of them, before the couple reconciled during the COVID-19 pandemic after staying in contact and working through virtual therapy.
Christine Taylor remembers walking through one of the hardest chapters of her marriage the way you remember a moment you can’t quite shake—the decision itself, the timing, and the heavy feeling that came with it.
On the “McBride Rewind” podcast, in a May 26 episode, the “Brady Bunch Movie” star looked back on separating from her husband Ben Stiller in 2017. Taylor, 54, described that period as temporary, rooted in the reality that people can grow into different stages of life.
“I met Ben when I was 28 years old,” she said. “I really feel like, you know, kids always have growth spurts, and you have different chapters and stages in your life, and I feel that’s also true for adults.”
Taylor said that “in that moment in time for us. we were just not on the same page with a lot of things. ” and that they were “working so hard to try to make it fit. and make it right.” Her point landed with a quiet insistence: they weren’t giving up on the relationship in the moment—they were trying to carry it.
But she said that when she and Stiller “zoomed out on it. ” they decided to “put a pause here.” She described the choice as emotionally costly. saying. “In the moment. it was very difficult to come to that decision. It was not without a heavy heart. and feeling really even dejected at the time. of like. ‘This is not how I imagined it was going to be. and we should have been able to work it out.’ I mean. it was challenging.”.
During the separation, Taylor said she and Stiller “were always in contact.” The couple married in 2000 and share two children, Ella, 24, and Quinlin, 20.
The turn toward reconciliation came during the COVID-19 pandemic. Taylor said she, Stiller, and their children quarantined together, and the time at home helped them shift from distance to repair. She told listeners that they spent “a lot of time just working on us” through virtual therapy.
“We came out of it and have been really stronger and better than ever,” Taylor said. “We’re happy.”
Stiller has also spoken publicly about the separation. In 2025. he opened up in his documentary “Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost. ” directed by Stiller. which centered on his parents. Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. and examined his own marriage through their story. In the film. he shared. “When we separated. my feeling was. ‘Oh. I’m failing at this. and look at my parents. ‘ They have this incredible. 50-plus year marriage. and I can’t live up to that.’”.
Earlier, Taylor described the need for space during the process of re-centering their relationship. In 2023, on “The Drew Barrymore Show,” she said it was crucial for her and Stiller to have time apart to “get to know who we are,” while adding that they “always stayed a family unit.”
Taken together, the timeline reads like a family renegotiating what “working it out” actually means—first as a difficult pause in 2017, then as steady contact, and finally as a period of shared effort during quarantine when they leaned into virtual therapy.
Now, Taylor says the relationship they rebuilt has a clearer foundation. After quarantining together and “found the way back,” she framed their outcome as something earned, not assumed—“stronger and better than ever,” and something they’re choosing to protect.
Christine Taylor Ben Stiller separation reconciliation McBride Rewind virtual therapy COVID-19 pandemic Brady Bunch Movie Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost