Ben Stiller Feels 'Grateful' to Be Back with Wife Christine Taylor After Separation: 'So Much More Appreciation'

Ben Stiller is explaining how reconnecting with wife Christine Taylor after a separation made them value their marriage more.

The actors — who married in 2000 and share two kids, daughter Ella, 22, and son Quinlin, 19 — separated in 2017 but reconciled sometime during the pandemic, when they'd moved back in together.

In a new interview with The New York Times, Stiller, 59, explained how the time apart ended up making their relationship stronger.

"When we separated, it was just having space to see what our relationship was, what my life felt like when we weren’t in that relationship, how much I loved our family unit," he said. "It was like three or four years that we weren’t together but we always were connected. In my mind, I never didn’t want us to be together."

"I don’t know where Christine was, you’d have to ask her, but COVID put us all together in the same house," added the Severance director.

Stiller recalled to the outlet that it was "almost a year of living in the same house before we were actually together" again.

Related: Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor's Relationship Timeline

"But I’m so grateful for it, and I think not that many people do come back together when they separate," said Stiller. "There’s nothing like that, when you come back. You have so much more appreciation for what you have, because we know we could not have it."

In March 2023, Taylor, 53, opened up about their separation while on The Drew Barrymore Show, admitting they "got married very quickly after meeting each other" and eventually they "both started to grow in different directions."

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Their separation was "not something we took lightly" and they "always stayed a family unit."

"It was sort of like we were both at this impasse of 'let's figure out what's best: What's best for each other at this chapter in our lives?' ... That time apart for each of us to sort of get to know who we are— I think we have these growth spurts even as adults," she said at the time. "I feel like we needed some time to figure that out."

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Together again, Taylor said she and Stiller are "so good" and realize they had a "history" together, which has a "freedom and comfort."

In February 2022, Stiller revealed that he and Taylor reconciled, telling Esquire at the time, "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."

Read the original article on People