Meryl Streep and Martin Short were spotted together at a London restaurant, seated side by side and smiling at a handheld device, reigniting dating rumors after their “Only Murders in the Building” love-interest storyline.
Meryl Streep and Martin Short didn’t hide in a crowd in London—they sat close enough that a tourist could spot them and share the moment.
On May 17. a tourist posted on X with a photo of the two seated side by side at a dining table. smiling as they looked down at a handheld device. In the image. Streep was holding the device. and the caption—written in French—translated to: “Spending a few days in London. picking a restaurant at random. and finding yourself eating just a few meters away from Meryl Streep and her husband.”.
The sighting immediately lit up romance speculation around the Only Murders in the Building costars. The talk first took shape after Streep joined the cast in 2023 as Short’s character’s love interest, but it flared again in March 2025.
That month, an insider told Page Six that Streep and Short had been dating for “well over a year now.” The source added neither celebrity was “looking for a relationship when they started dating,” and that their “newfound romance” “took them by surprise.”
Still, the two have long been seen as more like family than anything new. Both are 76 and have been friends for years, supporting each other’s work long before they played lovers—and then spouses—on the Hulu series in 2023.
Streep showed up for Short’s performance in Broadway’s It’s Only a Play at the Jacobs Theatre in 2015. Since then, she’s attended major events sitting next to the actor. They’ve also been spotted enjoying dinner with friends and going to plays together.
The timeline of the rumors also bumps into earlier denials. In August 2024, Short denied all dating speculation during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, saying they were nothing more than “friends” at the time. Around the same period, a rep for Streep told Page Six, “They are just friends.”
Part of why the latest chatter feels so charged is how much personal history sits behind the headlines. Streep separated from sculptor Don Gummer in 2017, after marrying him in 1978. Short was previously married to actress and singer Nancy Dolman for 30 years; Dolman died of ovarian cancer in 2010.
Streep shares four children with Gummer: Henry, Mamie, Grace and Louisa. Short adopted three children with Dolman: Katherine, Oliver and Henry. Katherine died by suicide in February.
With a fresh London sighting now circulating and earlier denials still sitting in the record, the question for fans is simple: are the close moments just the comfort of longtime friendship—or something more, lingering in plain sight at a restaurant table just a few meters from strangers?
Meryl Streep Martin Short Only Murders in the Building London restaurant romance rumors Hulu dating speculation Jacobs Theatre
Wait so they’re dating or just seated next to each other? People will really run with anything.
The handheld device thing feels like the most fake evidence lol. Like “oh they were smiling” okay romance historians
I saw somewhere they’ve been together for over a year and I was like wow that’s crazy but then it says earlier they denied it. So which is it, Page Six or Hollywood Reporter? My brain can’t keep up.
Idk why everyone thinks “Only Murders” love interest means real life. Also she’s 76 so I just assume it’s either friends or a publicity thing, not like they’re gonna be hiding in London anyway. The whole Don Gummer/Nancy Dolman timeline makes it sad but I’m still like… seated side by side isn’t proof.