September 12, 2025 • 8 mins
Modern Family star Eric Stonestreet shares how he and fiancée Lindsay first met through social media and how his work with his charity "Big Slick" strengthened their bond. They discuss knowing they’d found "their person" during the pandemic and how Eric’s playful nature complements Lindsay’s grounded personality. The couple plans to host a combined wedding and housewarming party at their Kansas property, humorously noting that "Sofia Vergara is only coming once."
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Hey everybody, it's Graham and it's Friday, which means today
we get to bring you another trending clip this week, Eric
Stonestreet. The clip you're about to hear is
trending on our Instagram right now.
Hope you enjoy. So how about each of your
recollections about how you guysmet in the first place?
(00:24):
Oh. Did you did you tell the story?
At all? No, but he's, trust me, he's
kept in research. He knows the story.
But I feel like we saved the full story.
I don't know if you've ever haveyou ever really told the full
story? Like it's long.
We won't bore you with all the detail.
No, I'm, but I mean, I saw him bond with my patient at work and
(00:46):
this patient that I'd taken careof for 10 plus years felt like
my own child. And he's could be a difficult
patient to bond with. He's non verbal.
And, you know, so and I watched him go in there and sing and
swing from the chandelier with them and engage with him and it
was pretty awesome. Yeah.
It was, you know, the charity event we do Big slick with Paul
(01:09):
and Rod and Jason Sudeikis and and Robert Riggle and myself.
Hugely successful. Very successful.
They had asked me to become a host after I'd come a year as a
guest. Best decision you ever?
Made. Yeah.
Well, it, it really was it really did turn out to be great
in a lot of ways. It was Adam Scott and I and
Sia's song Swing from a Chandelier was playing and we
(01:32):
were, you know, miming that and swinging.
And then it went to commercial on his Pandora subscription and
he little guy had a fit. And so as we're leaving the
room, I was like, hey, can I getthat guy a Pandora subscription?
Because that's a tremendous amount of trauma to put someone
through for $58 a year or whatever the subscription fee
(01:53):
was. Let's just get him a
subscription. And they were like, sure, no
problem. And so we took a picture with
the nurses and we left and that was that.
Well, then we go back to Saturday night, the hotel, and
Will Forte comes up and says, hey, there's a wedding going
down in the lobby of the hotel in the ballroom.
Let's all go down and sing. So we all head down there and I
(02:16):
walk into the room and there's agirl that's like Stoney Stoney.
And I knew exactly who she was. I went to college with her and
she said my niece is getting married.
You got to come take a picture with her.
And I said well, we're all goingto sing to her right now.
So we go in and we sing and thenthe wedding party, they start
spraying champagne and beer and it gets crazy and all of our
family and friends are upstairs waiting for us for this BBQ.
(02:39):
So we all trail out. Well, the next morning,
Saturday, Sunday morning, I wakeup to just getting attacked on
Twitter calling me and asked I wouldn't take a picture with a
bride and this and that. And in the middle of all these
tweets to me, there was one thatsaid, yeah, I'm pretty sure the
guy that comes and raises millions of dollars for sick
(03:01):
kids is the ass here. And I was like, who is this?
And I click, I'm like, oh, that's that One of the nurses I
met yesterday. So as a thank you, I just
followed her back and that was the end of communication.
And then we were shooting, I remember what episode we were
shooting. It was me and my Batman costume,
very flattering. And the kids name popped into my
head that about the Pandora subscription.
(03:23):
I don't know why it did. And I thought, you know, I
wonder if he ever got his subscription.
I'm like, I'll direct message that nurse.
And and ironically, he was back in the hospital and my patient
that day that he messaged me. So I just walked right into his
room and asked his dad. Yeah, so didn't.
They didn't. So we got him the Pandora
subscription and then that was in like early September.
(03:46):
And then I think you came out and we started talking.
And for three years she commutedback and forth to LA.
So how about the moment for eachof you when you realize this is
my person? Well, I have a very good friend
named Joanna Stein, who years ago, through all my trials and
(04:06):
practice tribulation relationships, She's like, Eric,
you need a nurse. Like she literally said that.
You're like, you need to find a nurse.
What was her reasoning? Because she knows my personality
and what it takes to be a nurse sympathetic, sympathetic, you
know, patient kind and I'm as she's I've said to many people
(04:30):
have no problem saying I'm a lotselfishly.
I mean, I got the exact right person at the exact right time
that I needed someone because just not only because she's in
the medical world, but calm, cooling presence.
And you know, I'm, I'm at level 10 most of the time.
What was the moment where you realized that, oh, this might
(04:52):
actually become home? It really wasn't until the
pandemic and probably almost, I would say a year into the
pandemic where we realized Hollywood was very different and
he it was never probably going to be like normal again that he
needed to go back and base there.
I think realizing that so many people were doing the exodus out
and then he could be here and still go back and work when he
(05:13):
wanted to work for periods of time.
And then we sort of make it fun for the boys and going to, we're
going to go visit LA for, you know, a week or so while he's
working and. What's he like with the twins?
Very fun and ornery and I'm the boring one in the house.
He's he provides all your. Time.
He's, I mean, they know bedtime,for instance, like, all right,
(05:35):
time to go to bed. He's like, no, it's not.
You can stay up till midnight. And then they're like, yeah, Mr.
Eric's the best. And then mom, you know, is the
boring one. Listen, they're my kids.
I didn't have, I don't have my own.
So there are things that are very important to me that they,
they learn they knew my dad and they met him and it's important
(05:58):
to me that they remember him andthink of him.
And I try to say that any of my,you know, good qualities come
from how I was raised. And I want to pass those on and
make sure that they're aware of what it means to be a conscious,
giving, nice human being. That doesn't take from anyone,
right? Ever.
(06:18):
So how do you propose? So he had me convinced that, you
know, because he's known to torture me.
Prank. So he had me convinced that
there was this, I don't rememberwhat the company was, wanted to
do an ad campaign with the two of us.
They. Were interested in our dynamic
and chemistry together to potentially partner for a brand
and do like a national thing like you know you see actors do
(06:41):
with their spouses. So he got me, you know, to
actually get ready. And then he said, OK, we have to
have this conversation and pretend talk on camera.
So we had the camera set up so Iwouldn't be suspicious.
And then he said, we'll start with the boys in the video and
then they'll exit out and then it will be us.
I was like, OK. And so I made it seem as though
they were in on it. And then they do it.
(07:03):
They exit frame and then and. Then he asked me to marry him
and I. All right in.
Front of all, right in front of that cameras.
Right on. It I look like an idiot, like it
was just like I should have known, but I did not know and we
had never discussed it. Never.
Never. And you guys had been dating for
a minute too. Oh.
Yeah, 3, three years. Five years.
Five years I. Don't know.
(07:25):
And then now the question is, Ohmy God, are you ever going to
get married? Because I've been engaged for so
long. And is the plan to still get
married at the property? I think, I think if anything,
the party will be here. We may be married by the time we
invite people here, but it's always been to build a place to
(07:45):
host people because so many of our friends, I'm, I'm not going
to get Sofia Vergara here like 3times.
So we may as well have not got ahouse warming party and A and a
wedding at the same time, you know, and you know, we just want
to show people we're proud of it.
I mean, it's we're putting the tremendous amount of energy work
(08:07):
resource into it and we want people to come and feel really
welcome and see what we've been doing the last two years.
One quick thing before you leave, please consider giving
the podcast a rating and review.Those go a really long way in
helping us reach new listeners.
Hey everybody, it's Graham and it's Friday, which means today
we get to bring you another trending clip this week, Eric
Stonestreet. The clip you're about to hear is
trending on our Instagram right now.
Hope you enjoy. So how about each of your
recollections about how you guysmet in the first place?
(00:24):
Oh. Did you did you tell the story?
At all? No, but he's, trust me, he's
kept in research. He knows the story.
But I feel like we saved the full story.
I don't know if you've ever haveyou ever really told the full
story? Like it's long.
We won't bore you with all the detail.
No, I'm, but I mean, I saw him bond with my patient at work and
(00:46):
this patient that I'd taken careof for 10 plus years felt like
my own child. And he's could be a difficult
patient to bond with. He's non verbal.
And, you know, so and I watched him go in there and sing and
swing from the chandelier with them and engage with him and it
was pretty awesome. Yeah.
It was, you know, the charity event we do Big slick with Paul
(01:09):
and Rod and Jason Sudeikis and and Robert Riggle and myself.
Hugely successful. Very successful.
They had asked me to become a host after I'd come a year as a
guest. Best decision you ever?
Made. Yeah.
Well, it, it really was it really did turn out to be great
in a lot of ways. It was Adam Scott and I and
Sia's song Swing from a Chandelier was playing and we
(01:32):
were, you know, miming that and swinging.
And then it went to commercial on his Pandora subscription and
he little guy had a fit. And so as we're leaving the
room, I was like, hey, can I getthat guy a Pandora subscription?
Because that's a tremendous amount of trauma to put someone
through for $58 a year or whatever the subscription fee
(01:53):
was. Let's just get him a
subscription. And they were like, sure, no
problem. And so we took a picture with
the nurses and we left and that was that.
Well, then we go back to Saturday night, the hotel, and
Will Forte comes up and says, hey, there's a wedding going
down in the lobby of the hotel in the ballroom.
Let's all go down and sing. So we all head down there and I
(02:16):
walk into the room and there's agirl that's like Stoney Stoney.
And I knew exactly who she was. I went to college with her and
she said my niece is getting married.
You got to come take a picture with her.
And I said well, we're all goingto sing to her right now.
So we go in and we sing and thenthe wedding party, they start
spraying champagne and beer and it gets crazy and all of our
family and friends are upstairs waiting for us for this BBQ.
(02:39):
So we all trail out. Well, the next morning,
Saturday, Sunday morning, I wakeup to just getting attacked on
Twitter calling me and asked I wouldn't take a picture with a
bride and this and that. And in the middle of all these
tweets to me, there was one thatsaid, yeah, I'm pretty sure the
guy that comes and raises millions of dollars for sick
(03:01):
kids is the ass here. And I was like, who is this?
And I click, I'm like, oh, that's that One of the nurses I
met yesterday. So as a thank you, I just
followed her back and that was the end of communication.
And then we were shooting, I remember what episode we were
shooting. It was me and my Batman costume,
very flattering. And the kids name popped into my
head that about the Pandora subscription.
(03:23):
I don't know why it did. And I thought, you know, I
wonder if he ever got his subscription.
I'm like, I'll direct message that nurse.
And and ironically, he was back in the hospital and my patient
that day that he messaged me. So I just walked right into his
room and asked his dad. Yeah, so didn't.
They didn't. So we got him the Pandora
subscription and then that was in like early September.
(03:46):
And then I think you came out and we started talking.
And for three years she commutedback and forth to LA.
So how about the moment for eachof you when you realize this is
my person? Well, I have a very good friend
named Joanna Stein, who years ago, through all my trials and
(04:06):
practice tribulation relationships, She's like, Eric,
you need a nurse. Like she literally said that.
You're like, you need to find a nurse.
What was her reasoning? Because she knows my personality
and what it takes to be a nurse sympathetic, sympathetic, you
know, patient kind and I'm as she's I've said to many people
(04:30):
have no problem saying I'm a lotselfishly.
I mean, I got the exact right person at the exact right time
that I needed someone because just not only because she's in
the medical world, but calm, cooling presence.
And you know, I'm, I'm at level 10 most of the time.
What was the moment where you realized that, oh, this might
(04:52):
actually become home? It really wasn't until the
pandemic and probably almost, I would say a year into the
pandemic where we realized Hollywood was very different and
he it was never probably going to be like normal again that he
needed to go back and base there.
I think realizing that so many people were doing the exodus out
and then he could be here and still go back and work when he
(05:13):
wanted to work for periods of time.
And then we sort of make it fun for the boys and going to, we're
going to go visit LA for, you know, a week or so while he's
working and. What's he like with the twins?
Very fun and ornery and I'm the boring one in the house.
He's he provides all your. Time.
He's, I mean, they know bedtime,for instance, like, all right,
(05:35):
time to go to bed. He's like, no, it's not.
You can stay up till midnight. And then they're like, yeah, Mr.
Eric's the best. And then mom, you know, is the
boring one. Listen, they're my kids.
I didn't have, I don't have my own.
So there are things that are very important to me that they,
they learn they knew my dad and they met him and it's important
(05:58):
to me that they remember him andthink of him.
And I try to say that any of my,you know, good qualities come
from how I was raised. And I want to pass those on and
make sure that they're aware of what it means to be a conscious,
giving, nice human being. That doesn't take from anyone,
right? Ever.
(06:18):
So how do you propose? So he had me convinced that, you
know, because he's known to torture me.
Prank. So he had me convinced that
there was this, I don't rememberwhat the company was, wanted to
do an ad campaign with the two of us.
They. Were interested in our dynamic
and chemistry together to potentially partner for a brand
and do like a national thing like you know you see actors do
(06:41):
with their spouses. So he got me, you know, to
actually get ready. And then he said, OK, we have to
have this conversation and pretend talk on camera.
So we had the camera set up so Iwouldn't be suspicious.
And then he said, we'll start with the boys in the video and
then they'll exit out and then it will be us.
I was like, OK. And so I made it seem as though
they were in on it. And then they do it.
(07:03):
They exit frame and then and. Then he asked me to marry him
and I. All right in.
Front of all, right in front of that cameras.
Right on. It I look like an idiot, like it
was just like I should have known, but I did not know and we
had never discussed it. Never.
Never. And you guys had been dating for
a minute too. Oh.
Yeah, 3, three years. Five years.
Five years I. Don't know.
(07:25):
And then now the question is, Ohmy God, are you ever going to
get married? Because I've been engaged for so
long. And is the plan to still get
married at the property? I think, I think if anything,
the party will be here. We may be married by the time we
invite people here, but it's always been to build a place to
(07:45):
host people because so many of our friends, I'm, I'm not going
to get Sofia Vergara here like 3times.
So we may as well have not got ahouse warming party and A and a
wedding at the same time, you know, and you know, we just want
to show people we're proud of it.
I mean, it's we're putting the tremendous amount of energy work
(08:07):
resource into it and we want people to come and feel really
welcome and see what we've been doing the last two years.
One quick thing before you leave, please consider giving
the podcast a rating and review.Those go a really long way in
helping us reach new listeners.
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