Melissa McCarthy Slams Critics Of Her Weight As Husband Ben Falcone Says He’s ‘Lucky’ To Be Married To Someone So Beautiful

Mar 31, 2023

Whether you know her from movies, TV shows or comedy, Melissa McCarthy is an incredibly recognizable face and name in Hollywood. She's also an Oscar-nominated actress and comedian who's more than proven her talents to the world. From her early work in sitcoms "Gilmore Girls" and "Mike and Molly," to her leading lady roles in "Tammy" and "The Boss," Melissa's style of comedy is a breath of fresh air. It's no wonder she's one of the most in-demand and highest-paid actresses working in Hollywood today!

What some people might not know is that Melissa's real-life husband is actor and director Ben Falcone, and the two are frequent collaborators. Falcone has directed various movies of hers, and together they run On the Day Productions, a production company that makes comedy films. She also credits her husband as helping her keep things in perspective.

Born on Aug. 26, 1970, and raised on a soybean farm in Plainfield, Illinois, Melissa's early life might not have seemed like the upbringing of a future Hollywood star, but that didn't stop her. However, despite this, she does have a few famous relations including Hollywood actor and model, Jenny McCarthy, as well as a professional basketball player, Joanne McCarthy.

When the future star decided to pursue a career in entertainment, she found herself in The Groundlings, Los Angeles' famed improvisational and sketch comedy troupe. While there, she honed her craft and even made friends with fellow members Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph — connections she would keep and would play a part in her stellar rise to fame. It's also where she met her future husband — actor, comedian and filmmaker Falcone.

However, it took the couple almost two decades of knowing each other before they decided to trade wedding vows.

While they were in The Groundlings together, Melissa said she instantly took to Falcone. In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres in 2018, she recalled being smitten by Falcone’s skit about “an inmate that really liked his new roommate.”

“I immediately was like, ‘Oh, he’s strange. I like him. And we were friends from, like, day one,” she added.

In 2013, Melissa told More magazine, as reported by Us Weekly, she “got hit with the lucky stick with Ben.” Sharing the exact sentiments, Falcone added they “got hit with the same lucky stick.”

“From the very first time we spoke, we were on the same page,” he said. "We love each other, respect each other, and try not to sweat the small stuff. And we really make each other laugh.”

It seems the couple just can’t seem to get enough of each other. In 2020, Melissa told People she loved how much Falcone could send her into fits of laughter.

“He’s nothing but supportive, and he’s super smart. He makes me gut-laugh, like crazy gut-laugh, four or five times a day. I hit the jackpot!” she told the outlet.

Falcone has also been vocal about his adoration for Melissa, taking to Instagram in August 2021 to pay tribute to his “Mooch” on her birthday.

“...Melissa makes everything fun – just by being herself. I’m such a lucky fella to be married to someone so smart, kind, beautiful and crazy funny. Happy birthday Mooch, love you!” he wrote in the post, accompanied by a vintage picture of the pair together.

While their love for each other is clearly going strong, it had a somewhat slow start as Falcone only proposed to Melissa 17 years after they first met.

As Melissa is three years older than Falcone, when they first met in Illinois, she was already in college and he was still in high school. Falcone told Seth Meyers in August 2021 that, back then, Melissa “struck terror in certain people” as she was going through a goth phase. He admitted he had been “afraid” of her as well as the first time they met, she was wearing “a heavy cape” and had “kind of a nice shade of blue hair.”

Luckily, the pair reconnected in Los Angeles 10 years later in 1998. However, the pair only wed in 2005. Falcone recounted his “terrible” proposal story to Jimmy Fallon in June 2022, which he said he decided to do at their home one Saturday morning in 2004. After buying bagels, he returned to find a contractor there to redo the bathroom tiles. In a panic, he said he tried to think of another place he could do the proposal, like the dog park but decided against it.

“My blood pressure is just skyrocketing all day. And the guy leaves. Melissa is watching an autopsy show … and playing like a handheld ‘Tetris’ game,” he told Fallon. “And I literally – I'm so jacked up and I'm freaked out. And I just rush at her and go, ‘Melissa, will you marry me!” Falcone said.

Melissa had also said of the proposal, “He screamed at me like he hates me.”

The couple tied the knot the next year and now have two lovely daughters – Vivian, 14, and Georgette, 12. And 15 years after the wedding, Melissa honored their love with a touching Instagram photo of them kissing at their nuptials.

“15 years ago today I married the kindest, funniest and weirdest human I’ve ever met. Grateful every single day!!!” she wrote.

The pair showed just how connected and fun-loving they were when they rolled up to the Oscars Vanity Fair party in February 2019 wearing matching tracksuits, an idea Melissa said she came up with the night before.

“I asked, ‘Can we wear matching tracksuits?’ And someone was like, ‘For tomorrow? Like, that both fit?’ It’s not that easy. … It just seemed so funny to me and so comfortable. I have never been flipped off or told to f— off as much as at that party and it was all done jokingly but also with something real behind it,” she told InStyle.

Naturally, that wasn’t the first time Melissa has been criticized, as she’s often been at the receiving end of hurtful comments about her weight. In February 2013, her cousin Jenny came to her defense after a journalist referred to the star as "tractor-sized Melissa McCarthy" in a review of her film “Identity Thief.” The journalist also called Melissa a “gimmick comedian who has devoted her short career to being obese and obnoxious with equal success.”

Jenny defended Melissa to E! News and said, “That’s obnoxious in itself. For anyone to attack like that, it’s just wrong and hurtful, and it doesn’t do anyone any good.”

Melissa told Refinery 29 after losing weight that it shouldn’t be an issue at all. “I’ll be up, I’ll be down, probably for the rest of my life. The thing is, if that is the most interesting thing about me, I need to go have a lavender farm in Minnesota and give this up. There has to be something more. There are so many more intriguing things about women than their butt or their this or their that. It can’t be the first question every time, or a question at all,” she remarked.

What do you think of Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone’s hilarious proposal? Are you a fan of the comedic duo? Let us know and be sure to pass this along to family and friends.