To the world, Danica McKellar is still Winnie Cooper from “The Wonder Years” — but at home, the star is a proud wife and mom.
The actress has been married to attorney Scott Sveslosky since 2014 and it’s still wedded bliss for the couple.
“He’s a great partner — sweet, supportive, loving,” the 44-year-old recently told Closer Weekly. “We each brought a child into our marriage — Hunter’s 14, and my son Draco is 8. We’re raising them alongside each other. Watching their friendship develop, they just play and have so much fun. What a blessing!”
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McKellar was previously married to composer Mike Verta from 2009 until 2013. She admitted the breakup was painful.
“I believe that was the hardest thing I’ve ever been through,” McKellar told the magazine. “And I have advice for anyone going through a divorce if there are kids involved: Just be generous, and don’t bring them into it. If you hold on tight, the other person is going to hold back, and when kids are caught in the middle… What kids want is love and for everyone to get along. Luckily, his dad is a fantastic father. We get along great, much better than we did before, and we’re generous with each other.”
While McKellar has found love again, she said it didn’t happen immediately — and she’s perfectly content with that.
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“It was one-and-a-half years before I started dating because you need to focus on yourself,” said McKellar. “I just wanted to regroup. I wrote in my journal, trying to understand what’d happened – I found that to be healing – and I moved in with my mom for two years.”
Today, McKellar is grateful for the family she shares with Sveslosky. The star did try to expand her family by having another baby, but it just didn’t happen.
“We actually tried, but it didn’t happen, and that’s OK,” said McKellar. “I have such a great relationship with my son. I’m 44, a little on the older side, and we’re not not trying. Who knows? I joke with Scott, if we’re not going to have a kid, maybe we should open a foster home!”
Still, McKellar insisted that spending time with her family is what truly gives her joy.
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“I love inspiring people with my math books, I love providing quality entertainment with my Hallmark Channel moves — I love all that,” she explained. “But spending time with my little guy is just so precious. There’s no contest, and I’m really grateful.”
Back in February of this year, McKellar told Fox News that at one point, she did try to escape being recognized as just Winnie Cooper from a show that came to an end in 1993.
“I think while I was on the show at some point I did try to break free,” she explained at the time. "I remember being 14 and was just so tired of every single person saying "Hey Winnie! Where’s Kevin?" I just wanted to be me. So when I would go out in public, I would wear these disguises and people would recognize me anyway! And I would still pretend it wasn’t me. It was so silly. *laughs*. Everybody, every single day would say "Hey Winnie, what’s up?" All day long.”
“I remember my first math class [after the show ended] I scored the highest of the entire class which was 163 people,” continued McKellar. “I just couldn’t believe it was me. And the next day, someone taps me on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, aren’t you that girl?" I assume the person was going to say "The Wonder Years." But he said, "Aren’t you that girl who got [the high score]?”
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“And that moment for me was all I ever needed. I felt so empowered. But nowadays, I totally embrace "The Wonder Years." I just think it’s fantastic. Just the other day, I posted about the anniversary of the pilot airing. I think because of social media and because of how much I get to interact with my fans, I just really understand the impact and how much it brought families together, how much that show meant to people. So at this point, I’m grateful for it and I don’t try to run away from it anymore.”
McKellar also shared that as an actress, it’s been crucial for her to appear in family-friendly films.
“I’ve done nine Hallmark movies so far and I love them,” said McKellar. “I absolutely love them. It’s such a wonderful, family-friendly, wholesome place to go to, especially during a world that has gone crazy *laughs*. It’s so nice to be able to turn on the Hallmark channel and know the whole family can watch it. … It’s going to reinforce values like love and family and tradition and things that just make you feel good. It reminds us that there is a lot of good in human beings and to look for that and nurture it.”
McKellar also acknowledged that Fred Savage, who famously played Kevin Arnold on “The Wonder Years,” has previously said there’s zero chance of a reboot. And she’s not arguing with him on that.
“That’s what he said!” said McKellar. “And if he’s not on board then it will probably never happen.”