Ted Danson Explains Why He Hates Love Scenes With Anyone But Wife Mary Steenburgen

Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen’s romantic spark is still going strong after 30 years together!

The Cheers alum, 77, has been married to Steenburgen, 72, since 1995, after they met on the set of the 1994 movie Pontiac Moon, and Danson said he only has eyes for his wife both on- and off-screen.

During a Tuesday, November 18, appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Danson gushed over reuniting with his wife on camera in the second season of his hit Netflix comedy, A Man on the Inside. Steenburgen plays his character Charles’ new love interest in season 2, set to premiere on Thursday, November 20.

“The other thing is, second chances. Do you get to fall in love again if you have lost the love of your life? I get to play that out with my wife, Mary,” Danson shared with host Stephen Colbert in a heartwarming moment.

The actor added, “With Mary, I hate love scenes with other people.”

“Like, making love or just love?” Colbert, 61, joked, prompting Danson to reveal that he’s never filmed a sex scene. “They never paid me to do sex,” he quipped.

“I kissed. But no, I was the guy who made jokes about sex, but not actually [film a sex scene],” he explained.

Turning the attention back to his longtime love, Danson said, “But with Mary, she loves me and I love her, and I can throw myself into it because there’s no guilt.”

“If it’s a stranger, it’s like, ‘Oh, this is wrong. Or is it nice? No, no… it’s wrong!’” he quipped, before adding: “I got to not hold myself back [with Mary] and fall madly in love with my wife [on screen].”

Danson previously spoke about his strong bond with Steenburgen exclusively to Us Weekly in November 2024.

“Once you meet her, you’ll understand. She’s magnificent and we love each other and we laugh a lot,” he said of their long-lasting marriage.

“We both get one ingredient in life, which is so important, that if something goes wrong, you look at yourself knowing and trusting the other person is looking at [themselves], which is what allows you to grow,” he continued. “If you’re with somebody who’s not willing to look at themselves, that doesn’t work.”

Danson added, “I love who she is, truly. If I could be a woman, I’d be her. She’s trained me well. I could do it. I swear I could do it.”

Steenburgen, for her part, has also publicly declared her love for her husband. “Happy 25th Anniversary,” Steenburgen wrote in a 2020 Instagram post to mark their 25th wedding anniversary. “This was SUPPOSED to be a sweet loving anniversary photo but you have a big piece of salad in your teeth. So there it is. Thank you for making me laugh today and every single one of the last 9,125 days. You are the goofiest, wisest, kindest, dreamboat in the world.”

A Man on the Inside season 2 marks the married couple’s latest onscreen collaboration. They’ve also acted together in Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Good Place, a 1996 miniseries adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels and the short-lived sitcom Ink.