Why The Big Bang Theory's Simon Helberg Temporarily Ended His Engagement To His Wife
After seeing Simon Helberg with his TV co-star, Melissa Rauch, for years on "The Big Bang Theory," it's slightly daunting to see him with another woman — aka his IRL wife, Jocelyn Towne. But there was nearly a universe where Helberg and Towne never married and had their two children, Adeline and Wilder. It wasn't because Helberg was secretly dating his co-star, unlike other actors in Hollywood, nor did it have anything to do with Helberg's famous parents.
The reason is 100% Helberg's own fault — something he admitted to David Letterman on the host's eponymous show. "I freaked out, I thought I had feelings for other people, I thought that I needed more of an exciting life. I had the perfect thing but for whatever reason. ... It was an exercise in self destruction," he revealed (via The Mirror). After the breakup, Towne moved to Paris, France, and started seeing someone new. Helberg, realizing his mistake, traveled to France to win her back, which he ultimately did. Helberg said in a 2015 interview on "The Queen Latifah Show" that before then, he had to stay in the house of the new man in Towne's life for a bit, which is super awkward.
Helberg and Towne eventually married in 2007, a few months before "The Big Bang Theory" premiered and Helberg became an overnight sensation.
He turned his mistake into a feature-length movie
Simon Helberg and Jocelyn Towne were able to transform their horrible experience into something fun and tangible they could show their children one day. On his "The Queen Latifah Show" appearance, Helberg discussed the rom-com he wrote, starred in, and co-directed with his wife, "We'll Never Have Paris."
"It's the story of my disastrous breakup with my now-wife," he said. He later elaborated, "We broke up, and then it was followed up by an even more horrific proposal attempt by me." Obviously, they were meant to be together in the end. Beyond cracking a few jokes about the reason, why Helberg thought he needed to immortalize his mistake in film remains a mystery. He didn't even let his wife know he was crafting up a movie idea based on their story until after he did it and pitched it to people. When Helberg eventually did share his news, Towne admitted her own parents didn't actually know their engagement story and its drama. "Everyone's got kind of a bad breakup story or a bad proposal, and I think I just won," Helberg joked.
Of course, because Helberg was starring as a caricature of himself in the movie, which he was co-directing with Towne, that meant Towne got to give him notes — such as telling him to beg for his onscreen love interest's forgiveness. Sounds like she got the last laugh in the end.