Who said that romance is dead? The Big Bang Theory’s Simon Helberg has revealed that he broke up with his wife instead of proposing to her, only to eventually marry her anyway.
The nerdy thespian, who made a name for himself after appearing on the hugely successful CBS sitcom as Howard Wolowitz, has now been married to Jocelyn Towne, an actress/producer, for over six years. But it hasn’t always been so cosy.
Helberg and Towne are now working together on a film which will tell the story of the bizarre route to their wedding day. As you’d expect, it all started off with a planned proposal, but things slightly went awry when Helberg decided to break up with her instead of getting down on one knee.
Helberg explained on Thursday’s Late Show with David Letterman, “It’s sort of embarrassing. It’s about my wife and I and our break up before I proposed. I thought I would like to marry this girl, so first of all I’m going to systematically destroy my entire life and our relationship and lie and ruin all my friendships.”
To his eternal credit, Helberg now has the wherewithal to admit, “I freaked out, I thought I had feelings for other people, I thought that I needed more of an exciting life. I had the perfect thing but for whatever reason… It was an exercise in self destruction.”
It looked as though he had blown it completely though after the split when Jocelyn decided to move across the Atlantic to Paris, France. Jocelyn even started to date another man too, before Helberg realised the error of his ways and travelled to France to win her back. Not only did he eventually convince her to marry him, but he also managed to move her back to the United States too.
Helberg teased, “I proposed immediately on her return because I thought if I can just trap her and force her to marry me that’s the most romantic thing anyone could ask for.”
They eventually married in 2007, and it’s safe to say that everything ended well for the pair because Towne, who is the niece of renowned screenwriter, Robert Towne, is now expecting the couple’s second child.
Their first child, a daughter, Adeline, was born on May 8, 2012, and Helberg admitted to Letterman that he doesn’t want to know the sex of her sibling because “it’s so boring when you know all those details.”
[Image via Helga Esteb /Shutterstock]