Daly and Leoni, whose show premiered in 2014, married in July.

Tim Daly recalls falling in love with Téa Leoni moments after meeting her on *Madam Secretary *set

Daly and Leoni, whose show premiered in 2014, married in July.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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December 9, 2025 9:40 p.m. ET

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Tim Daly and Téa Leoni attend a party in December 2023. Credit:

Bruce Glikas/Getty

Tim Daly immediately felt something for his *Madam Secretary *costar Téa Leoni, whom he married in July.

"God, about four minutes after I met her at the office," he was in love, Daly told *Life Minute*.

Daly and Leoni played married couple Henry and Elizabeth McCord on the CBS drama, which aired for six seasons, from 2014 to 2019. It depicted Leoni's character as the country's secretary of state, grappling with both her high-stress job and life with her family.

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They didn't make their red carpet debut until April 2015 — although their relationship had already been confirmed — but it was obvious even early on that they had something.

"Every time people said we had great chemistry, I was like, 'Yeah, no s---!'" the *Wings* alum said. "It was funny because our first season, we were supposedly trying to keep it quiet, be on the down low. But the teamsters were picking us up at each other's house all the time, and we were looking at each other with goo-goo eyes."**

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Tim Daly and Téa Leoni marry years after playing husband and wife on 'Madam Secretary'

Very quickly, Daly decided that he wanted to swap vows with the alum of movies including *Bad Boys*, *Spanglish*, and* The Family Man*.

"Well, I actually asked Téa to marry me, I think, about nine years ago," Daly recalled. "And she said, 'Yes, let's just wait a minute.' Then nine years later, she asked me, and I was like, 'Yeah, I already asked!' So anyway, we got it done. I like being married to Téa."

Téa Leoni and Tim Daly on 'Madam Secretary' in 2014.

David M. Russell/CBS

In December 2019, *Madam Secretary* creator Barbara Hall told * *that she was happy to have played a part in the love story.

"They are the most perfect couple," Hall said, "and it really is a wonderful thing to have been part of. I don't know if I take credit for it, though!"**

Daly was previously married to Amy Von Nostrand for 26 years, but they split in 2010.

Leoni was married to David Duchovny for 17 years before they announced plans to divorce in August 2014.

Watch the full conversation above.

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