Stephen Fry, 67, recently celebrated his 10th wedding anniversary with his husband, Elliot Spencer, who is 30 years his junior.
Fry took to Instagram to express his love, writing, “Ten happy years to the day since we were joined in marriage. I’m a lucky man.”
Their love story began in 2014, after meeting at a mutual friend’s house, where Fry fell in love with Elliot at first sight.
He later admitted that he knew “pretty much straight away that this was someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with”. However, he was unsure whether the feelings were mutual, as Elliot “got rather a lot more [life to go than him].”
Fortunately, the feelings were reciprocated and the couple got engaged, tying the knot just 10 days later in January 2015 in an intimate ceremony in Dereham, Norfolk.
Despite their loving relationship, the Jeopardy! Show host and his husband are not often seen together in public, apart from their occasional red-carpet appearances.
He reveals the reason in a candid conversation on Jonathan Ross’ show on ITV, while discussing his quiz show Jeopardy!.
He said, “it was all a terrible mistake… a lovely mistake I should say.”
While recalling how he got the opportunity to host Jeopardy!, he also discusses his husband and their private relationship.
“I was on The Morning Show [in the US]. I had dinner with my American agent, he said, “What do you do when you’re not called on set?” and I said, “My husband and I, we don’t go to Hollywood parties much, we have an early supper, watch Jeopardy! go to bed…”
Stephen continued: “He said, “Do you watch it in the UK?” I said, ‘We don’t have it in the UK.”
“The conversation moved on, I thought no more of it. Two weeks later, he phones and says: “ITV London is thrilled you’re going to do Jeopardy!”
Talking about fulfilling his childhood dream of acting, Stephen added: ‘When I first did it, I was too self-conscious and that’s the bane of any performance. If you’re aware of yourself. You can see it in people.
‘If you see the wheels going round, it’s gone. It took me far longer than a natural actor to get used to it.’
His unwavering love for his husband is clear, who seems to have been a quite supportive partner.
Fry credited Elliot for “saving his life” while discussing his bipolar disorder, which was diagnosed at 37 years.
Speaking in a 2016 interview with The Sun, he shared: “I think just the happiness and security and calm of being with him. I am in a great place right now.
“My physiologist Billy has been astonishing, and the medication has also saved my life after finally getting it right.”
He has always been vocal about mental health and was also knighted for his services towards mental health, the environment, and charity in the 2025 New Years Honours.
Reflecting on his knighthood, Fry hopes to serve as an inspiration for others in the same boat.
“There’s always hope,” he affirmed.
The TV show host seems more than content with his life and family, sharing his non-interest in longevity, during an appearance on Evgeny Lebedev’s Brave New World podcast.
“Personally, I’m not particularly interested in longevity for myself. I’m interested, as I think most people are, in the idea of an old age that is as pain-free as possible and where there isn’t too much cognitive loss,” he stated.
“If everybody – my family and friends – lived into their 120s, then maybe I’d be quite happy to pass 100.
“But as it is, I would hate to be that lonely Flying Dutchman figure so beloved of history… The survivor, all of whose dependents and acquaintances have since died. I would find that deeply upsetting.”
With such a loving spouse and a healthy relationship, it’s clear why Fry values companionship over longevity. After all, in a world filled with love, who needs immortality?
