Wendi McLendon-Covey was on Live with Kelly and Ryan this week promoting The Goldbergs. That show has been on seemingly forever and the second half of season nine is airing now. It’s unknown whether it will be renewed following lead Jeff Garlin’s ouster for bad behavior. I haven’t watched it in years, but I remember it as a cute show with a lot of nostalgia. Wendi has been married to Greg Covey for 25 years and they are childfree. Wendi told Kelly and Ryan that the secret to their marriage was that they don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. She was really adamant about this too. You could tell she was being deadpan about it and she was funny. Here’s People’s writeup and a clip is below:
“Listen, I’ve been married 25 years, just like [Ripa],” she said. “And here we are 25 years later, not celebrating Valentine’s Day, which is the key to a lasting marriage.”
McLendon-Covey said her 2022 Valentine’s agenda will include some self-care — and will be separate from whatever plans Greg may have for himself.
“There is nothing in Valentine’s Day that you need to be a part of. It is a bust at our house,” she said. “I’m probably going to do sheet masks and he can do what he wants.”
“I don’t need anything — whatever, I sound like a real shrew,” she joked.
But the actress did reveal a holiday that she goes all-in on: “St. Patrick’s Day, I go off. That’s my husband’s birthday.”
McLendon-Covey’s aversion to Valentine’s Day is nothing new. In 2016, she told PEOPLE that rather than celebrate their love one day a year, she and Greg make a point to appreciate each other on a daily basis.
“Right this moment I have a really nice husband who has been refilling my coffee for the last hour and a half,” she said. “I’m eating in front of the TV and catching up on emails, and he’s been refilling coffee and just being sweet.”
There’s something to what she’s saying. Doesn’t it seem like the couples who post the loved-up photos with over the top gestures are the ones who are on the rocks behind the scenes? It’s like they’re trying to compensate. Plus those people bug the hell out of me. As for gifts, my mom and dad are like this. They give each other cards on major occasions but they recycle them from the last year and they don’t give gifts. It really depends on the couple and each person’s love language though. My love language is gifts and I would hate it if someone didn’t give me something small for Valentine’s Day. (Candy is fine!) It sounds like Wendi’s love language is acts of service, since she gave the examples of her husband being sweet by making her breakfast and getting her coffee.
The Kelly and Ryan show posted another clip to YouTube where Wendi said she’s watched her on screen kids grow up. She said “I’ve seen them grow up and do their thing and they’ve seen me go through menopause. Yes I said menopause.” I am going to watch more interviews with her, she’s awesome.
Here’s that video. I love how she’s shady to Ryan at the end! His girlfriend is literally half his age, but it’s not like she pointed that out.
My husband and I are like this too. To us, Valentine’s day is just another day and we both sort of roll our eyes at it. Now, St. Patrick’s Day, that we get excited over–corned beef & cabbage rules!
We go out for dessert. I think the key to successful marriage is separate bathroom sinks.
yes! we each have our own bathroom (4 bathrooms no kids lol) and I swear, it’s a game changer haha
My husband and I have separate bathrooms and I won’t have it any other way.
We also have separate blankets on the bed. Same top sheet and comforter, but we each have a blanket to ourselves. It works out really well.
We have a tiny bathroom so I can attest that this would be great. But also, my husband started sleeping on the couch regularly a few months ago (we’re not fighting or anything, he just started sleeping out there during football season bc he would fall asleep watching a game) and I swear we both sleep so much better separately and get along so much better lol. I’m not waking up to his snoring, he’s not waking up bc I take the blankets, etc.
My husband and I rarely sleep in the same bed because one of us usually falls asleep putting one of the kids down. Or, a kid comes upstairs and goes horizontal. I told my mom very casually once. She thought our marriage was over. I guess it’s only a good marriage if you get no sleep for 20 years because your spouse snores like a freight train, but whatever.
Absolutely! Separate sinks are key. Also, Valentine’s day is silly. We haven’t “celebrated” it since we were dating.
Our 28th wedding anniversary is next week. We’ve never celebrated Valentine’s Day and have had separate bathrooms for the past 25 years. It is truly the key to a happy marriage,
My husband and I are like this as well – we plan and make a nice dinner at home (we LOVE to cook) for V-day and then usually drink bubbles and watch a movie, nothing too sappy or overly fussy, it’s not our style.
I don’t know, we never really went out for Valentine’s Day except the first year we were married but… I don’t see anything wrong to it? I like to buy a card for my husband and a little gift, even if small… or the daily routine is never broken.
To be honest, key to a lasting marriage is to never get sick as being chronically ill has destroyed all my previous relationships (and the only cracks in my marriage appear when I have the condition at the peak).
There’s nothing wrong with celebrating Valentine’s Day if that’s your jam, but I think the point is to focus on the substance of your relationship and not the image. I feel like it’s the kind of thing that’s fun when you’re young and in love, but life gets hectic and it would be weird to feel hurt/resentful if a partner didn’t do enough for Valentine’s Day. Yeah, supporting each other during the hard times is the real test. No question.
We rarely celebrate Valentine’s Day (like I think we did maybe the first year or two we were together?) My birthday was yesterday (finally the big 4-0 Celebitches, you’ve been hearing about it forever and it happened) but so it seems silly to celebrate that and then celebrate a week later. Sometimes we’ll go out for a nicer than usual dinner and say its for both but its really just my bday.
We get the kids cards and a small thing of candy lol and that’s it too.
This year is our 15th wedding anniversary so I guess we’re doing alright.
Happy Birthday@Becks1. May you continue to share your comments with us for many more years to come! 🎈🎈
Happy birthday 🎂🎈
It was my 40th birthday on Feb 2!
Also our wedding anniversary is Feb 10.
We don’t do Valentines. We just do my birthday and our anniversary. And usually nothing too big for our anniversary.
For Valentines I will help my son with cards for “school” – he is almost 3 so he is in a toddler room.
Married almost 21 years and we don’t celebrate V-day either. We only celebrate our anniversary and birthdays but we rarely get each other gifts. Cards on the other hand, we both but a lot of effort into cards.
European 40+ here-we don’t have the same Valentines Day tradition here. Or at least not when I was younger. Nowadays it feels like a big incentive to consume whatever the shops throw at you. But I get that in the US it’s a different tradition and to each their own. If a couple wants to celebrate because for them it is a big deal-good for them. I personally never notice the day.
We have had separate bedrooms for years. My husband snores and has apnoe He has the machine but I prefer sleeping alone in my 1,40m bed.
I don’t think Valentines presents or sleeping arrangements say sth about the state of a marriage. Separate sinks do help though 😉
European doesn’t say much. I am from Italy originally and St. Valentine’s Day was celebrated by couples as far as I can remember (1980s). In the USA it is celebrated for relationships of any kind, in Italy it only concerns people in love but it always existed for decades.
We love going to the Waffle House on Valentine’s Day and have been going for 20+ years. One year someone even bought us dinner! It is nice because now we can bring our children and all enjoy it.
I love Wendy, she’s hilarious.
But I’m here to represent the ones who are in very happy, joyous, successful marriages AND we like to go all out for Valentine’s Day.
My husband and I also write romantic cards to each other for each birthday and on Christmas, so we are definitely more into that mushy stuff. I get it, it’s not for everyone.
For some though, we will take every opportunity to show that extra love, to write a few sentences of appreciation, to spoil each other. It probably has more to do with love languages than happy marriages. I have no doubt that many people are in excellent marriages without all these gestures. But my marriage is strong and solid and we love Valentine’s Day. Im sure I’ll get flowers, chocolates, a small gift and a beautiful card. And I’ll be giving my husband chocolates and a special card for sure. And sometimes we go full corny and involve some new red lingerie hahaha.
Valentines Day to me is remembering dreading that time of year as a kid when I had to sign 30 of those cheap little paper cards that everyone handed out in class. I Choo-Choo-Choose You!
As an adult, some years my hubby and I get each other cards and share some dessert. Some years we completely forget about it. It’s just meh.
I love her, she’s such a great comedic actress. I’ve listened to a number of podcasts and interviews with her, and I’m not surprised by this – she seems completely normal and down to earth, very low key, low maintenance type of person.
Her cats are so cute! I adopted a stray female ginger over the pandemic and she is the absolute cutest.
I am with her. We exchange cards, and we might go out to dinner if the timing is right but it’s really just dinner. don’t need flowers or chocolate or jewelry…..I don’t even want them. I am not that into celebrating holidays like that, including Mothers Day. I like Halloween and Thanksgiving, holidays that involve decorating and feeding people and group fun/activities.
St. Patricks Day is the anniversary of our first date and it was the date of our son’s Bar Mitzvah, lol, so we have a soft spot for it though we don’t go all out for it. We don’t really live in a city with a big St. Patricks Day tradition (Houston). My son’s birthday is early March and he was given the 14th for his big day…..I joked that we should have green beer for the adults at the party.
My husband and I are the same, but we usually just order some take out and stay home and watch some movies. Last year was the first time he’s ever bought me flowers for Valentine’s Day and we’ve been together for 6 years.
We don’t make a huge fuss over one day. We don’t care about getting a lot of gifts, it’s such a money grab and we don’t need to flaunt our life and tell people how perfect it is.
We support each other every day and buy each other fun things whenever we feel like it.
Hubs and I sleep apart. We would like not to, but both admit we just sleep so much better that way. We also don’t do Hallmark holidays
I actually divorce people for a living and have found that the more pageantry around a relationship the more likely it seems to end. People spend too much time on expectations and not enough on focusing on what works for them
For those who enjoy Wendi’s vibe she has a podcast wither her friend – Generation Ripe. It was a bit too loose for my taste but she is fun.
Even before the pandemic we’d generally skip Valentine’s Day but for some reason, decided we’re going out this year and made restaurant reservations. Keeping it low key but in the mood for a tasting menu this year.
Valentine’s is fun to the extent that I have an excuse to get cute themed presents for a bunch of children and have recently started decorating Valentine’s Day tree because it’s fun and cute. I can’t take it seriously as a “holiday” celebrating adult relationships.