Is 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' Star Nia Vardalos Married IRL?
Nia Vardalos, writer and star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, once had a personal life not so different from main character Toula Portokalos. The Canadian actress based the film on her own big Greek family and marriage to a non-Greek man.
“When I started to write My Big Fat Greek Wedding, all I did was write down everything that had ever happened to me,” Vardalos said on ABC News’ 20/20.
The 2002 rom-com was a smash hit and inspired two sequels—one in 2016 and another now in theaters. As fans watch the Portokalos family return to Greece, here’s a look at Vardalos’ real-life relationship and just how well it follows the script.
Is Nia Vardalos married?
Nia Vardalos is not currently married, but she had a 25-year-long marriage to actor Ian Gomez. The couple’s relationship laid the foundation for Toula and Ian’s relationship in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
“We didn't want to play a couple opposite each other because we felt like it's kind of a little presumptuous to tell an audience, ‘Look how cute we are as a couple!’” Vardalos told Bobbie Wygant in 2002. Gomez was cast as the best man to John Corbett’s Ian.
Related: Who Is John Corbett Married to IRL?
Who is Nia Vardalos's husband?
Vardalos was married to Ian Gomez, an actor best known for his work on Cougar Town, Felicity and The Drew Carey Show, for 25 years. Gomez also acted in My Big Fat Greek Wedding and the 2016 sequel, playing the part of Mike, Ian’s best friend/best man, who eventually marries one of Toula’s cousins.
Although Gomez and Vardalos divorced in 2018 citing “irreconcilable differences,” they’re reportedly on great terms.
Is Nia Vardalos's ex-husband, Ian Gomez, in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3?
Gomez does not appear in the third installment, although he said in a 2019 interview with Us Weekly that he’d be up for working with his ex-wife again.
“It’s a really sweet franchise. She has so many people that have come up to her and just said the most amazing things about, like, their families getting back together because of the film, or like, ‘My dad and I didn’t talk and then we bonded over this film,'” Gomez said. “It’s a legacy. I mean, it’s amazing.”
Related: How to Stream 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' 1 and 2
How did Nia Vardalos meet her ex husband?
Vardalos met ex-husband Ian Gomez at The Second City, an improv comedy troupe in Chicago.
“[Nia] was chomping at the bit to move to L.A,” Gomez said in an interview with Backstage. “I was afraid of having to start all over again, which happened. But we got lucky. Nia started doing a lot of voiceovers. Then, while I was doing a Second City alumni thing, someone said, “Go talk to my agents.” They hip-pocketed me and I got an audition for the pilot of The Drew Carey Show.”
When did Nia Vardalos get married?
Nia Vardalos married Ian Gomez in September 1993, almost 10 years before the release of her breakout movie.
Is Nia Vardalos divorced?
Yes. She and Ian Gomez separated in June 2017 and filed for divorce in July 2018.
“We’ve been respectfully separated for a lengthy period of time. Our relationship became a friendship so the decision to end the marriage is completely mutual and amicable,” they said in a joint statement at the time.
Does Nia Vardalos have kids?
Vardalos shares one child with ex-husband Ian Gomez, Ilaria Valdaros Gomez, whom they adopted at the age of 3 in 2008.
Who is Nia Vardalos's daughter?
Ilaria Valdaros Gomez is the daughter of actors Nia Valdaros and Ian Gomez. She was adopted at about 3 years old in 2008, which would put her at age 18 now. Her parents, who divorced amicably in 2018, sought joint custody and appeared to be on good terms following the separation.
What's more, she seems to be joining the family business: She served as an assistant on My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.
Did Nia Vardalos adopt a child?
Vardalos and then-husband Ian Gomez endured 13 rounds of IVF, multiple failed surrogacy attempts and several miscarriages on their journey to parenthood. This was one reason My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 came out 14 years after the original—Valdaros felt she couldn’t write Toula being a mother if she wasn’t one herself.
“It was a sad process for me to become a mom and a long process," Vardalos told People in 2016. “I felt so embarrassed that I couldn't have a biological child.”
After nine years of trying to conceive, Valdaros and Gomez adopted their daughter in 2008. “I am so grateful and can't imagine my life without her,” Valdaros said.
Is Nia Vardalos actually Greek?
Vardalos was born in Winnipeg, Canada, to Greek-Canadian parents, and used quotes from her real-life family in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
“‘Greek women. We might be lambs in the kitchen, but we're tigers in the bedroom,’ is something that my mother said to me while we were making chicken soup,” Vardalos told ABC News. “So I threw up in my mouth. And then I wrote it down.”
Next, Nia Vardalos Still Feels Like an 'Outsider' in Hollywood
