Big Bang Theory Star, Simon Helberg’s idea of romance is unlike anyone else’s. The actor is known to play the role of Howard Wolowitz in the hit sitcom series. He revealed in an interview how badly he wanted to marry his then-girlfriend, Jocelyn Towne, but instead dumped her.
How Simon Helberg Almost Lost His Real-Life ‘Bernadette’
Simon Helberg is happily married to his wife, Jocelyn Towne for 16 years now. However, their love story was not as smooth as one might’ve expected it to be. In an interview with David Letterman in 2014, Helberg revealed how he broke up with his then-girlfriend instead of asking her to marry him. As reported by Mirror UK, Helberg was talking with Letterman about We’ll Never Have Paris, a movie he had acted in and directed with his wife in 2014. He explained that the movie was actually based on his and his wife’s love story and he broke up with her before proposing to her.
“It’s sort of embarrassing. It’s about my wife and I and our break up before I proposed. I thought I would like to marry this girl, so first of all I’m going to systematically destroy my entire life and our relationship and lie and ruin all my friendships.”
Helberg further added that he “freaked out” and thought that he had “feelings for other people.” However, the Big Bang Theory star knew that he had something beautiful with Towne.
“I freaked out, I thought I had feelings for other people, I thought that I needed more of an exciting life. I had the perfect thing but for whatever reason…It was an exercise in self destruction.”
It seemed like a typical case of getting cold feet. Simon Helberg was deeply in love with Towne and was just too scared to pop the question. Towne, on the other hand, did not take the break up well and moved to France and ended up dating other men. Although, their love story was like any other fairytale Hollywood love story. Helberg realised just how big of a mistake he’d made and flew to Paris to woo her back. Miraculously, Simon Helberg was successful in winning Towne back and did not waste another minute when Towne returned to the US. He told Letterman-
“I proposed immediately on her return because I thought if I can just trap her and force her to marry me that’s the most romantic thing anyone could ask for.”
Simon Helberg’s Love Story Inspired Big Bang Theory’s Subplot
Helberg was one of the first cast members to get married and start a family during the filming of Big Bang Theory. Inspired by this, the showrunners decided that Howard would be the first to find love in the sitcom series as well. Helberg’s character, Howard Wolowitz was not very lucky when it came to wooing the ladies, however, he did find the love of his life sooner than the rest of his friends. Howard’s love interest, Bernadette, was played by Melissa Rauch. The two got married and eventually had children in the series.
Not many might be aware but castmates Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki who portray Penny and Leonard, respectively, in the series were briefly a real-life couple. Penny and Leonard who played on-screen couples were also off-screen couples. Just like their story onscreen, both Kaley and Johnny had an on-and-off relationship behind-the-scenes. While their reel-life characters found a happy ending in the show, the actors did not have a real-life happy ending.
Although, both Kaley and Johnny remained cordial and professional as colleagues with each other even after the show ended in 2019. Kaley has since been married twice and is currently dating actor Tom Pelphrey. Actor Johnny Galecki is currently dating Alaina Meyer and the two welcomed their son, Avery, in 2019.
