Stephen Colbert and Evelyn McGee-Colbert have been married since 1993

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Stephen Colbert immediately knew Evelyn McGee-Colbert was the woman he was meant to marry.

The pair first met at a showing of a musical and wed in October 1993 — well before the talk show host became a household name. Stephen and Evelyn have since welcomed three children and collaborated on several projects, as Evelyn is a talented producer.

Stephen has credited his wife as one of the reasons The Late Show was still filming during the COVID-19 pandemic. While accepting an Emmy Award for outstanding variety special in 2021, he said, “I’m going to call my wife to celebrate as soon as I get through all this because she was a huge part of this past year and this night, too.”

From their first meeting in a theater lobby to raising three children, here is everything to know about Stephen Colbert’s wife, Evelyn McGee-Colbert, and her relationship with the late-night host.

She and Stephen met in a theater lobby

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Stephen was at a showing of the musical Hydrogen Jukebox when he saw Evelyn in the theater lobby. The Late Show host later revealed that he knew Evelyn was the one immediately, telling himself, “Her. That’s your wife. You’re going to marry her.”

Evelyn and Stephen saw each other again in a food line at the show’s afterparty. Stephen recalled thinking, “You will kick yourself for the rest of your life if you do not turn around and say hello to her.”

She and Stephen grew up near each other

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Once Stephen got the nerve to introduce himself, the two realized that they had actually grown together. Their families knew each other when they were children, and Stephen later said he thought Evelyn was “just being nice to me because our families know each other.”

She first noticed Stephen because of the way he treated his mother

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In May 2021, Evelyn revealed to Montclair Local that Stephen caught her eye on the night they met because of how he treated his mother. “He walked in with his mother on his arm. I was thinking, ‘That man loves his mother,’ ” Evelyn said.

She has worked as an actress

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Like her husband, Evelyn has also worked in the entertainment industry, earning a few small acting credits throughout the years. She was featured in the comedy series Strangers With Candy, which was co-produced by Stephen, and appeared in Alpha House.

She works at the production company Stephen started

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Evelyn is currently the vice president of Spartina Productions, a production company started by Stephen. She also works as an independent film producer for the company. Evelyn is also the president of the Montclair Film Board of Trustees.

She made The Late Show possible during the pandemic

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Stephen was honored at the 2021 Emmy Awards for his 2020 special, “Stephen Colbert’s Election Night 2020.” While accepting the award for outstanding variety special, Stephen gave Evelyn a lot of credit for helping produce the show during the pandemic.

“I’m going to call my wife to celebrate as soon as I get through all this because she was a huge part of this past year and this night, too,” Stephen said. “You know, she’s an absolute rock and I couldn’t do this without her and I’m so glad — the only good thing that came out of COVID is that she got to be part of the show.”

She and Stephen have three children together

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Stephen and Evelyn have three children together: daughter Madeline and sons Peter and John. “Stephen and his family are very happily entrenched,” a neighborhood source told PEOPLE of the Colbert family in 2015. “You can always see him with his family. Family and community have always been important to him.”

She is very active in their New Jersey community

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The couple are very active in their local community of Montclair, New Jersey. Evelyn has been involved with the Montclair Film Festival since its conception, with founder Bob Feinberg telling the Montclair Local that she was his “first call” when he had the idea to start a film festival. In the years since, both Stephen and Evelyn have played significant parts in garnering publicity and raising money for the annual event.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the couple also raised funds for the New Jersey Arts and Culture Recovery Fund, which benefitted the state’s economically devastated arts and cultural sector.

“Stephen and I know the value of a creative outlet — for ourselves, for our families, and for our community — and we can’t take for granted that this industry will survive without our help. Every contribution makes a difference,” Evelyn said in a statement.

She and Stephen wrote a cookbook

Evelyn McGee-Colbert and Stephen Colbert.Eric Wolfinger

The couple released their joint cookbook Does This Taste Funny? in September 2024.

“It’s a little peek into our family,” Evelyn told PEOPLE. “It’s just a teeny little bit of hanging out with us in the kitchen.”

The cookbook celebrates the tastes of coastal South Carolina, where Stephen and Evelyn are both from, and includes recipes for dishes such as red rice and crab cakes.