We know Stephen Merchant for his work on some of Britain’s best comedy television shows, including The Office, Extras and now The Outlaws. But did you know that he has a famous partner? Stephen reprises his role as the sad divorcee lawyer Greg in the third series of his comedy-drama, The Outlaws, which landed on BBC earlier this week. But off-screen, Stephen’s romantic life is much more successful!
Who is Stephen Merchant’s partner?
Stephen’s partner is 42-year-old American actress Mircea Monroe, with whom he’s been linked to since 2017. The pair live together in Stephen’s two homes based in Los Angeles and London. Mircea is mainly known for her roles in American comedy television shows.
She played Morning Randolph in the sitcom series Episodes, and Tansy Truitt in the comedy-drama Hart of Dixie. She has also performed in films including Just Friends, The Change-Up and Magic Mike. As well as her major television roles, Mircea has guest-starred in shows such as the medical comedy-drama Scrubs and the sitcom Freddie. She also starred as Isabel Bradford in The Rookie.
Stephen has previously credited Mircea for helping put an end to his life as an eligible bachelor. He said: "Aside from the fact that she's great, hitting 40, there's something very pleasing about not having the endless concern about filling that part of your life. The life of a single person is a very lonely life. There's a lot of nights where you're watching DVDs on your own."
Mircea Monroe's career
Mircea has a huge list of movies and TV shows under her belt, but notably plays Tim Bradford's ex-wife Isabel in The Rookie. She has also starred in Impastor, Hart of Dixie and Episodes.
Speaking about their busy working lives, Stephen told Mail Online: "I'm lucky I don't have kids. My partner and I can do what we want, in terms of which country we're in. I love London and I love Britain. I also like coming here [Los Angeles] for the sun, for the people I know, for the city's creativity."
Stephen on The Outlaws
Stephen is currently starring in his new BBC comedy-drama The Outlaws, which follows seven lawbreakers from different walks of life who are thrown together to perform community service. The group are forced to unite when one of their own gets dragged into a dangerous world of organised crime. When series one arrived, it saw Oscar winner Christopher Walken take on his first lead role in a television series, playing small-time crook Frank.
Stephen previously spoke on This Morning about landing Christopher for the role of Frank, explaining how he had to fly to Connecticut to convince the actor to star in the show. "I flew to New York, drove to Connecticut, went to his house in the middle of nowhere. I’d been told before that he’s a very quiet man, a very considered man, doesn’t talk a lot…"
'We sat there and he would ask a question and I would answer and he’d just think. And then he’d ask another question and I would answer and he would think. It was like having a Zoom conversation in person, you never quite knew if he was thinking or buffering," he joked. The show is now on season three, but Christopher has a much smaller role in the series.
Speaking at a Q&A about Christopher's reduced role, Stephen said: "Although the [SAG strike] didn't impact us, it did impact American actors. They weren't allowed to come over during that. Of course, that hit right when we were filming. That did make life tricky for us. He is back, but it was hard to fit him in with all the other things he was doing and the strike."