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21 Jan 2026 11:04
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  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Tim Daly fell in love with Tea Leoni just "four minutes" after meeting her on the set of Madame Secretary

    The pair were introduced on the set of the political drama in 2014 and they struck up a romance which they tried to keep under wraps while they were working together before going public as a couple a year later and marrying in July 2025.


    Tim, 69, has now opened up about falling for the 59-year-old-actress revealing he was smitten with her within minutes. Asked when he realised he was in love with Tea, Tim told LifeMinute: "God, about four minutes after I met her at the office of Madam Secretary."
    The pair played husband and wife Henry and Elizabeth McCord Madam Secretary which ran from September 2014 to December 2019 and Tim has now admitted their onscreen chemistry was real.
    He said: "Every time people said we had great chemistry, I was like: 'Yeah, no s***!' It was funny because our first season, we were supposedly trying to keep it [the relationship] quiet, be on the down low.
    "But the teamsters were picking us up at each other's house all the time and we were looking at each other with goo goo eyes."
    The couple finally tied the knot over the summer but Tim has now revealed he actually asked the actress to marry him nine years before they decided to exchange vows.
    He said: "Well, I actually asked Tea to marry me, I think, about nine years ago, and she said: 'Yes, let's just wait a minute.'
    "Then nine years later, she asked me, and I was like: 'Yeah, I already asked!' So anyway, we got it done. I like being married to Tea."
    Tim went on to reveal he had actually crossed paths with Tea several times over the years before they were paired up on Madame Secretary.
    He explained: "I was doing a fundraiser when I was doing Wings. I was at Paramount, and she was there as a smoking hot 23-year-old. And I didn't pay her any mind 'cause I was in the midst of all kinds of stuff.
    "And then I met her again because her then-husband [David Duchovny] was friends with my first cousin, so I had just kind of shaken her hand a couple times.
    "And then Madam Secretary happened, and she just kind of caught me in her tractor beam and I was terrified. I was like: 'Oh my God.' Anyway, it was quick."


    © 2026 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

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