Stephen Colbert candidly admits he was far from ready for the spotlight when he first encountered Evelyn “Evie” McGee. Their initial meeting happened during their college days, as Colbert reminisced on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live in 2024. “We met at a party through a mutual friend from Charleston,” the Northwestern alumnus shared. “I was not in the best state of mind, and Evie seemed like a distant frost queen on a mountain top.”
At that point, Colbert didn’t see any potential for a relationship. Reflecting on their brief encounter, he admitted, “The first time, I thought, ‘This is going nowhere.’ Our conversation lasted maybe 30 seconds.”
Evie, who had graduated from the University of Virginia in 1985, wasn’t particularly impressed either. She described the future 11-time Emmy winner as “an immature, skinny boy.”
Serendipity, however, had other plans for these Charleston, S.C. natives. It wasn’t until 1990, when they unexpectedly ran into each other in a theater lobby in their hometown, that something clicked. Recalling the encounter on Today in 2024, Stephen shared, “A little voice in my head said, ‘There’s your wife. You’re going to marry her.’” And indeed, that chance meeting turned out to be the beginning of their enduring relationship.
In fact, lightning didn’t strike for the Charleston, S.C., natives until 1990, when they saw each other in the lobby of a theater in their hometown and, as Stephen recalled on Today in 2024, “A little voice in my head said, ‘There’s your wife. You’re going to marry her.’”
Meanwhile, Evie was “intrigued.”