Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen’s Heartwarming Morning Routine and Life Together

Ted Danson and his wife, Mary Steenburgen, have a unique and endearing morning routine that they cherish deeply. In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Danson revealed that the couple wakes up at 4:30 a.m. every day to spend quality time together. This early morning ritual includes enjoying coffee in bed, playing online games such as Wordle, Connections, and Spelling Bee, and simply talking and laughing together.

The couple, who will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary next fall, find these early mornings to be a highlight of their day. Despite their busy schedules and occasional time zone differences due to their respective careers, they make it a point to maintain this routine. “Even if she’s working in a different time zone,… we will wake up in time to be able to play our games and have coffee over the phone,” Danson shared.

Danson credits his personal growth and emotional maturity for the success of their relationship. He noted that he had committed to becoming a better, more emotionally mature person about a year before meeting Steenburgen in 1983. This transformation, he believes, was crucial for their relationship to work. “I was not really fully emotionally baked until shortly before I met Mary … Thank God we didn’t meet earlier,” he said.

Besides their happy marriage, Danson is also keeping busy with various projects. He co-hosts a podcast called Where Everybody Knows Your Name with his former Cheers costar Woody Harrelson and is set to star in the new Netflix series A Man on the Inside, based on Maite Alberdi‘s 2020 documentary The Mole Agent. Danson is also a devoted father and grandfather, with daughters Kate and Alexis from his previous marriage, and stepchildren Lilly Walton and Charlie McDowell from Steenburgen’s previous marriage.