Ellen Pompeo’s love story began in the aisles of a supermarket
It was an ultimate ‘meet cute’ when Ellen Pompeo met music producer and songwriter Chris Ivery in a Los Angeles grocery store in 2003.
Little did the Grey’s Anatomy star know, she had just met her future husband. They couldn’t help but feel their relationship was destined.
Pompeo and Ivery would soon discover they’d both grown up in Boston, Massachusetts but had never met.
When they met, Pompeo was at the beginning of her acting career.
Grey’s Anatomy was still two years away. She’d been acting since the mid-’90s and had experienced moderate success including roles in the movies Catch Me If You Can, Daredevil, as well as roles on TV series Law & Order and Friends.
Ivery has worked as a music producer for most of his career and this includes a writing credit on the Rihanna song Cheers (Drink to That).
The couple didn’t start dating until they had been friends for six months. Their friendship soon turned to romance and they began dating.
Pompeo told US Weekly: “We have a lot in common, We’re from the same hometown, almost. You fall in love and you think he’s the guy right away.
“Right when you fall in love, you think he’s the guy. You don’t sort of fall into a relationship thinking it’s only going to be temporary.”
Ivery said of their relationship turning to romance: “We were friends for six months. Then one night she just looked different to me.”
After three years of dating, the couple got engaged on Pompeo’s 37th birthday.
“We were six degrees our whole lives, so I feel like we were sort of meant to be,” she told PEOPLE in 2006.
Pompeo and Ivery were secretly married in 2007 in a low-key ceremony, with New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg officiating the ceremony at City Hall.
They have two daughters and one son – Stella, 14, Sienna, nine, and Eli, seven.
Ivery spoke about the secret to their long and happy marriage during an interview with US Weekly in 2019, saying they enjoy date nights and support each other.
“She’s my biggest fan. I’m her biggest fan,” he said.
The pair are often spotted at Lakers and Clippers basketball games.
“We have an amazing place out in Malibu so sometimes we’ll go out there, stay out there for the weekend,” he said.
“Whatever. We’ll go out with friends for dinner.”
In 2019 Pompeo spoke of her pride in her husband, who changed careers at 50 from music producer to executive for Sergio Tacchini, a heritage athletics brand founded in 1966 by the Italian tennis champion.
“It’s amazing. It’s inspirational to change careers at 50,” she said.
“He’s been in the music business for 25 years and he changed careers at 50. And he killed it. I mean, knocked it out of the park. It’s amazing! So for anybody who feels they’re stuck, you can change your career at any age.”
Pompeo spoke of their shared desire to maintain a happy and healthy home for their family.
During an episode of the Jemele Hill Is Bothered podcast in 2020, she said: “For me, personally, a healthy home life was so important to me, more important than a career.
“I didn’t grow up with a particularly happy childhood. So the idea that I have this great husband, these three beautiful children… to have a happy home life was really something I needed,” she continued.
“And so I made a decision to make money and not chase creative acting roles.”
Basketball isn’t their only shared interest. The couple were also spotted at the US Open tennis in 2023.
Of Pompeo’s long and successful tenure on Grey’s Anatomy, for which she remains Executive Producer, Ivery said he never felt insecure about his wife acting out passionate storylines with her leading men.
However, he admitted it could be “awkward,” particularly after Patrick Dempsey’s departure and Pompeo’s character Meredith Grey met a new love interest.
“I would say I’m not jealous. I’m really confident. But it’s awkward. She’s acting, but now she’s got this new lover, which I know him, Giacomo [Gianniotti, who plays Dr Andrew DeLuca],” he said.
“He’s a great guy. I actually like him. And to be honest, I haven’t watched those scenes because I feel like it can be awkward.”