Ted Danson Says Life Was A ‘Hot Mess’ But ‘Cheers’ Ending Led To Mary Steenburgen Romance

During the ATX TV Festival on June 2, Ted Danson and other cast members of Cheers reunited to share their experiences on and after the show. Danson played the lead role of Sam Malone throughout the show, which aired for 11 seasons ran from 1982 to 1993.

During a panel discussion at the event anchored by Michael Schneider, with Cheers co-stars George Wendt, John Ratzenberger, James Burrows, Les Charles, and Glen Charles in attendance, Danson revealed that Cheers’ ending led him to his forever love. “My life was a hot mess at the time, and if I had not stopped and gotten it together, I would never have met my wife,” Danson said.

Danson and Mary were each married on first meet

Danson and Mary first met in 1983 while he auditioned for the role of her TV husband in the biographical romance drama Cross Creek. “I was married. He was married. That was not our moment,” Mary said in a 2021 interview.

RELATED: Ted Danson Says He Struggled With His Character Sam Malone In ‘Cheers’

In 1994, the pair met again on the set of Pontiac Moon, where they played husband and wife yet again. However, they had both separated from their partners at this time. Danson and his wife Cassandra Coates split in the year before, while Mary divorced her husband Malcolm McDowell in 1990.

Danson and Mary started out as friends

The duo started with a friendship that blossomed into romance in the ‘90s. “I wasn’t ready for anything like a relationship. We just kept working together and becoming better and better friends,” Mary said.

Interestingly, Danson and Mary spiced things up and started dating after a canoe trip with friends in Mendocino, California. “It was very magical. We came back in love, to be honest, or I’ll say smitten,” the Cheers actor said. They got married in October 1995, in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, with US President and First Lady Bill and Hillary Clinton in attendance.

The couple worked together on more shows like Gulliver’s Travels, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and the 2004 romantic comedy It Must Be Love. “I want as long as possible in my life with Mary. I know it will have all of its hard parts, but I want to experience love in all those moments,” a love-struck Danson said of his wife.