Eric Stonestreet, 50, has been engaged to his long term girlfriend, pediatric nurse Lindsay Schweitzer, 42, since August of last year. (Her ring is really pretty, you can see it below.) Eric was a guest on Ellen last week, and he joked about how people thought he was so much older than his fiance since he’s aged like milk. Eric and Ellen also bonded over the fact that they both think it’s hilarious to scare people. As you know, Ellen has a longstanding and arguably juvenile bit on her show where she arranges jump scares and other pranks on her guests. Usually I feel sorry for those celebrities, but not Eric, who has been on Ellen a whopping 20 times. He loves scaring people too and considers pranks a sign that someone likes him. Here’s some of what he told Ellen:
On pranking his fiance
I prank her a lot, she’s very patient with me. I crunch loud things in bed. I’ll set corn nuts on the night stand. Once I know she’s asleep I’ll start eating corn nuts. I have a mini accordion that I set next to my bed one night. She’s like, ‘What in the hell is that?’‘I’m practicing my mini accordion.’
‘Why do you even have a mini accordion?’
That’s the whole point, is to keep life interesting and fun.
On Ellen pranking him so many times
Putting the time and effort into scaring me, I always felt like ‘she must really like me.’
[From The Ellen Show on YouTube]
Ellen said that she can’t imagine living with someone who does that, and that she only does it on her show which is an hour in the day. Eric admitted he spends a lot of time thinking about how to mess with people. If you woke me up more than once with this bullsh-t you would be sleeping in the guest room for the rest of your days. I would also seriously consider whether I wanted to be in a relationship with you. I understand an innocent mistake, but I would not tolerate this from a partner or a friend! I understand that there are families who love to prank each other and that it becomes a tradition. That’s not my style, but I wouldn’t mind it as much and it’s different from waking someone up! You can scare me occasionally and good naturedly in my waking hours, but my sleep is sacred.
Hecate and I were talking about pranks after the story about Amanda Seyfried came out yesterday. We think that there’s a difference between pranking family and people you’re close to when it’s done with an understanding of boundaries vs. pranking acquaintances and coworkers who don’t expect it. As for Eric and the fact that he thinks this is funny – I guess there’s someone for everyone.
Photos credit: Avalon.red and via Instagram
I don’t know what’s more deplorable…torturing your mate by depriving them of sleep for giggles…or kee-keeing about it on a talk show for laughs…😒😡
Agreed! Both things are deplorable. Imagine using this subject on a talk show for laughs….WTH?!
I hate being startled out of my sleep. It’s so unpleasant and stressful. I had the hardest time sleep when my kid were little little because I knew the baby monitor would startle me in the middle of the night. It’s just not a nice feeling. I can’t explain it.
Totally deplorable. I would be mad vex if this happened to me. I already have difficulty falling asleep, far less being awoken as a prank. That’s horrible.
Hilarious! In fact if anyone here wants an even bigger laugh Google sleep deprivation as a form of domestic abuse, it’s a known tactic. Absolutely sidesplitting. That woman must have the patience of a saint because I would be out of there.
That’s what I was thinking. She doesn’t look in love, she has a grimace smile.
It’s definitely an abuse tactic. Growing up, I had a friend whose dad had a hilarious, delightful habit of playing bogeyman in the middle of the night. He would sneak into the kids’ rooms to terrify them awake. He even did it at sleepovers sometimes. I didn’t realize how f*cked up it was until I was older. He, too, was “just a prankster.”
Quite honestly I like a silly man but this would infuriate me. They are very cute and I hope that he can read the room and does this very, VERY infrequently.
The way he’s gripping her wrist in that pic showing off her engagement ring is really something.
At best, he sounds absolutely exhausting as a human being. I hope for her sake that’s all it is.
EXACTLY what I thought… so romantic the way he’s “holding her hand”
You know what would be interesting and fun? Setting fire to a mini accordion.
Lol! While he’s sleeping.
She is a pediatric nurse? Then she needs her sleep!! How rude and insensitive to the needs of others. I can enjoy a good prank now and then, but not when it interferes with my job/ profession.
I thought he was gay. Best of luck to her. I hate, hate, hate getting scared. A quick verbal prank that lasts about 2 seconds before the person admits it’s a joke is okay. I’m not completely without a sense of humor.
Beautiful doggo! I’ve never liked ES and I don’t even know why.
Dog is gorgeous. Funnily, he matches the pillows!
Maybe that’s what why he was single for so long. I would be arrested for assault if my spouse did that while I was sleeping.
I don’t know, I 100% read that as a joke. People really think he wakes up his nurse fiancé with an accordion he keeps on the nightstand?
I would not be putting up with this. Maybe when I was younger and less experienced.
never heard of this man but that is just plain ol aggression.
I love the dog in the pic and I get a good vibe from their photos together. If his “pranks” are true, she needs to nip that in the bud. She looks fully capable of doing so.
It would be dutch-oven time in My house.
Yeah if my husband did this it would be the last time he ever woke up 😂
it would be the last time he ever woke up…..next to me.
He’s one of my favorite comedians and she looks adorable. He raises lots of money for Kansas City, his hometown. Hosts the Big Slick event to benefit Children’s Mercy Hospital once a year. Also donates money for meals ($20,000) during first year of covid. I’m guessing as a comedian he’s exaggerating the fiancé pranks.
How lovely of Eric Stonestreet to ensure that his fiancee is not at her best as she tends to sick and dying children. /s
There’s a kind of viciousness in attacking someone at their most vulnerable. And your sleeping brain does process this as an attack.
What an ass.
Take that ring and nope right tf outta there.
This is a major red flag for me now. My ex used to wake me up by screaming while playing video games and stomping around in our room late at night. All because he lost a game 🙄 Intentionally depriving someone of sleep is a warning sign of abuse. I would advise this woman to RUN away from this guy
Ellen has no regard for other people’s feelings if it conflicts with her need to be an a-hole. Same with this guy. Pranking can literally alter people’s body chemistry in that moment. It can alter it for longer if the prank re-triggers someone’s PTSD or CPTSD.
Well, not for me. But if they both find pranks fun, OK.
I find them annoying as all get out.
He keeps me awake? Oops, I kick him in the nuts 😛
But seriously, that’s not “fun prank,” more “petty asshole” territory.
I remember watching a video on yt I believe, where Liam Hemsworth always would scare Miley. My ex used to do it, it’s really annoying and it gives you a form of ptsd after a while. These little mine games men pull on women are the reason women end up in prison. They push you to the damn edge and then laugh about it. They think it’s funny. It’s not.
truth! it’s dominance behavior. no one needs that in a relationship! at least outside of negotiated scenes.