Patton Oswalt’s relationship with Meredith Salenger began on Facebook.
The comedian was left devastated following the death of his wife Michelle McNamara in April 2016, after nearly 11 years of marriage. He went public with Meredith in June (2017), and said in a new interview with Playboy magazine that while it may have appeared to be a whirlwind romance to outsiders, it actually evolved over several months before they even met face-to-face.
Revealing that they began speaking on Facebook on February 28 after being introduced by mutual friends, Patton explained: “We were messaging, and it just turned into every night for three months – February through May. We would talk about everything, writing these short novels to each other every night. It wasn’t like I met this person and there was some thunderbolt.
“We talked all about Michelle and what I was going through and the stuff that Meredith has gone through. We didn’t meet face-to-face until May 20.”
However, once they did meet, Patton instantly felt as though he’d known Meredith forever.
“It was as if I had known this person since we were teenagers, and we both had unrequited crushes since we were 14 and now it was finally crashing together,” he smiled.
One thing Patton was more than a little nervous about was telling Michelle’s family, including her sisters, about his new romance. But he needn’t have worried, as he explained that they were happy that he’d found someone new.
“When I told (Michelle’s sisters), they were like, ‘Oh my God, we were so worried. We thought you were going to be alone forever,'” he recalled. “If I had passed away, no f**king way would I want someone as dynamic and unique as Michelle to be pining for me. My family was terrific. My dad served in Vietnam for three years, so he’s very pragmatic, like, ‘Why would you make yourself miserable if you don’t need to be?’ He was really happy, and my mom was excited too.”
