The essence
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Christine Taylor has opened up about her "very difficult" and "tough" split from Ben Stiller in 2017.
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They separated after 17 years of marriage and then got back together during the pandemic.
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The couple have two children: Ella, 24, and Quinlin, 20.
If you love someone, let them go. If they come back, it's meant to be. Christine Taylor and Ben Stiller put this quote to the test when they separated after 17 years of marriage in 2017 and then reunited during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the actor confirmed in a February 2022 interview. Years later, Taylor speaks candidly about the "very difficult" experience.
Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor attended the Met Gala on May 4, 2026. Photo: Getty Images
Actress from the movie "The Brady Bunch"« Taylor appeared on Josh McBride's podcast, "The McBride Rewind," on May 26, where she opened up about her breakup. "We got back together, we found common ground during COVID," she began. "I met Ben when I was 28… Kids always go through growth periods, and there are different chapters and stages in life, and I think that's true for adults too, especially women. You get married, you become a mom… you put your career on hold, all these different stages, and I think at that point we just weren't on the same page about a lot of things," she explained, adding that they "were trying really hard to make things work and make things right, and I think when we looked at it from a distance, we decided, 'Let's just take a break.'".
Taylor said that while she can "talk about it now," at the time it was "complicated" and "a really hard decision to make." "It wasn't easy, it was heavy on my heart, and I felt a little overwhelmed, thinking that things weren't going to be how I imagined them and that we should be able to work this out," she continued.
Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor attend the Vanity Fair Oscars party on March 2, 2025. Photo: Getty Images
Taylor explained that while they maintained "distance" during their separation, they "always kept in touch, co-parented, and spent time together as a family." Taylor and Stiller have two children—daughter Ella, 24, and son Quinlin, 20.
During the lockdown, Ella was finishing high school, and Quinlin was in eighth grade. "We were all home together and had a lot of time on our hands, so Ben and I spent a lot of time working on ourselves with a therapist, connecting via Zoom for therapy sessions, and really finding our way to recovery," she added. "If there's one silver lining to COVID, it's this little gift.".
Quinlin Stiller, Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, and Ella Stiller attended the world premiere of Zoolander 2 on February 9, 2016. Photo: Getty Images
The actress added that breakups are usually "something people don't like to talk about because it's perceived as a failure," but they emerged from it "stronger and better than ever." She added that they "make sure to make time" for each other, mentioning how Stiller recently drove five hours to visit her on set in Montreal. "I'm very lucky that we found a way to connect.".
Stiller and Taylor met in 1999 while working on the series "Heat Vision" and the Fox sitcom "Jack"« , which never aired. Less than a year later, on May 13, 2000, they married on the oceanfront on the island of Kauai, Hawaii.
Read the original article on InStyle.