Who Is Jimmy Kimmel's Wife? All About Molly McNearney (2024)

Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney worked together for six years on Jimmy Kimmel Live! before their workplace chemistry led to a real-life romance.

As a writer and executive producer for the show, McNearney developed a camaraderie with Kimmel while the two were dating other people. They eventually both found themselves single and after the late-night show host prepared a meal of McNearney's favorite foods, the pair made their relationship official. They got engaged while on safari in Africa and tied the knot in 2013 in Ojai, California.

Since then, McNearney and Kimmel have welcomed two kids together and collaborated to support several philanthropic causes, including Alex's Lemonade Stand.

Here's everything we know about Jimmy Kimmel's wife, Molly McNearney.

She is the executive producer and co-head writer of Jimmy Kimmel Live!

McNearney and Kimmel aren't just partners at home, they are co-workers too. She is the executive producer and co-head writer at Jimmy Kimmel Live! and has also worked on the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Oscars. McNearney executive produced the 95th annual Academy Awards, which Kimmel hosted in March 2023.

She occasionally appears on Kimmel's show, and at times, Kimmel has mentioned her during segments. The Oscars host told Matt James that McNearney had guessed who the final three contestants would be on James' season of The Bachelor, and her picks were pretty close.

"I don't think there is a thought process, she just kind of looks at them. Sometimes she picks before the show starts and she just looks at a picture and decides, and somehow she gets it right," Kimmel said on air, adding that McNearney thought Rachael Kirkconnell would be James' "bride."

During an appearance on the podcast Smartless, Kimmel admitted that work often bleeds into his home life with McNearney.

"I will sometimes dream a joke or think of something in the middle of the night, and then what I do is, because I cannot hold it in, I will wait until she's stirring and then I'll tell her what I thought [up]," he told the hosts. "Deep in my skull, I think to myself, 'This is her job, so it's okay for me to do this.' That's how I rationalize it."

She and Kimmel started dating in 2010

The producer worked for Kimmel for six years before the two began a romantic relationship.

"When I first met him, he insulted me," McNearney recalled of their first encounter during an interview with Glamour. "The executive producer brought me into his office and said, 'This is Molly; she's my new assistant.' Jimmy barely looked up from his desk until my EP said, 'She competes in triathlons,' and then Jimmy looked up at me and said, 'That is really stupid! What a waste of time.' "

Kimmel and McNearney were strictly platonic at first as they were both dating other people at the time (Kimmel was linked to Sarah Silverman until 2009). Over the years, their office friendship grew into something more and Kimmel eventually won McNearney over by cooking for her.

"All the writers would socialize after the show, and we would just hang out more and more. We really liked each other as friends, and then it just kind of turned. He cooked for me, and that was it. It sealed the deal," McNearney told Glamour.

She got engaged to Kimmel in South Africa

After about three years of dating, Kimmel asked McNearney to marry him while the pair were vacationing in South Africa's Kruger National Park.

"After Jimmy and Sarah [Silverman] broke up, Molly and Jimmy both found themselves single, and they clicked," a source told PEOPLE at the time. "They're really happy together."

Prior to their engagement, the couple was slow to share the news of their relationship with their co-workers.

"I was very, very nervous because I love our writers so much, and we work so closely together. I was also the only female writer in the room at the time, and I didn't want to change the dynamic," McNearney told Glamour. "We love to make fun of Jimmy over here, myself included. When you have camaraderie with your co-workers, one of the parts of that is making fun of the boss a little bit, and now to think, That's the guy I'm dating, I didn't want that to stop."

She married Kimmel in 2013

McNearney and Kimmel were married on July 13, 2013, in Ojai, California. Guests included stars such as Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Emily Blunt and Jennifer Aniston. The couple requested guests make a charitable contribution in lieu of gifts.

Following the ceremony, the newlyweds honeymooned in Portofino, Italy.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, McNearney opened up about their relationship and jokingly called Kimmel "the greatest wife you could ask for."

"When we started dating, I would go back and forth between my place and his," McNearney continued. "I have my stuff at my house, and I like my own space. One time, he was in the bathroom for a very long time, and I just figured something was going on internally."

The executive producer added, "A few days later, he presented me with this big box that had two of everything in my makeup and Dopp kit, because he saw that I was lugging stuff back and forth, and he wanted me to be comfortable in his home. He was in the bathroom for that hour and a half with my bag going through every single thing: every lotion, razor, deodorant, shampoo, makeup."

She has two kids with Kimmel

The couple share two children together: daughter Jane and son William "Billy" John. The late-night host also has two children from his first marriage, Katie and Kevin.

After the birth of her first child, Jane, McNearney joked about her labor experience on Twitter. "Kids, don't do drugs. Until you have a baby. Then do ALL OF THEM," the new mother wrote.

The couple's son, Billy, was born with a congenital heart condition and had to undergo three heart surgeries after he was born. Kimmel has been very candid about the experience on his show and praised McNearney during a 2017 episode for being "so strong and level-headed and positive and loving during the worst nightmare a new mother could experience."

In 2018, Kimmel posted a Mother's Day tribute to McNearney on Instagram with a photo of their children.

"Happy #MothersDay to every Mom, especially my wife Molly- you are even more beautiful with weird little people hanging onto you," he wrote.

She is open about her son's health challenges

McNearney is also very open about her son Billy's health issues. During an appearance on Anna Faris' podcast Unqualified, the mother of two opened up about the experience. "Kids are so resilient — he had open-heart surgery on a Monday and we were home on Friday," she said.

When Kimmel returned to work after Billy's surgery, McNearney was unprepared for her husband's emotional monologue about their son.

"So, there I am, in my living room breastfeeding Billy with my mom beside me, and we're watching," McNearney recalled in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "I sobbed through the entire thing. I couldn't believe the strength that it took to tell that story a week after it happened. He didn't have to do that."

She added, "Our family has excellent health care; he had nothing to gain from that. He did it for the other people whom we met in that hospital. He came home that night, and I just hugged him and I wouldn't let go."

She dislikes Kimmel's "hoarder" tendencies

McNearney isn't a fan of all the "stuff" Kimmel accumulates, so she created a segment on Jimmy Kimmel Live! called "Win Jimmy's Crap."

"You know marriage isn't easy," Kimmel told the audience. "One of the biggest ongoing conflicts I have with my wife is about stuff. She doesn't like mine. She likes hers."

The first time hosting the segment, McNearney gave away a pair of running shoes styled after the American flag, in addition to a set of golf clubs owned by her husband's manager. The second time around, she pawned off a pair of hot pink Crocs (a gift from Post Malone) and Kimmel's clarinet.

"The man doesn't know how to clean up or get rid of stuff. He is bordering on hoarder," she shared on an episode of her husband's podcast, Strike Force Five, which he hosts with four other late-night talk show hosts.

She and Kimmel have joint charity interests

The pair have been known for their charitable giving. In 2020, the couple announced that they would match donations up to $25,000 to the Los Angeles-based charity St. Joseph's Center.

"Let's make sure that every kid gets presents this year," Kimmel wrote on Instagram at the time.

Kimmel is also a supporter of Alex's Lemonade Stand. In 2015, he explained why he got involved with the cancer research charity to PEOPLE. "I've had many relatives die of cancer," he said, "but it's really more about the possibility of that happening, and looking at being a parent and seeing these people who decided that instead of being devastated by [the loss of their daughter to cancer] — which of course they were — they were going to do something to help others in memory of their daughter."

She has accompanied Kimmel to numerous award shows

McNearney has been Kimmel's plus-one to award shows and red carpet events for more than a decade.

In January 2024, the couple attended the 75th annual Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. McNearney turned heads in a body-hugging red dress, while Kimmel looked handsome in a black tux.