Jon Stewart’s Wife: The Famous TV Host Met Tracy McShane on a Blind Date

Jon Stewart’s wife, Tracey McShane, shares two kids with the Emmy Award-winning television host. The couple’s love story began when they were set up on a blind date by a crew member.

Stewart is a famous producer born in New York City to a teacher mother and a physics professor father. As a child, he and his family relocated to Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

The showbiz star graduated from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1984. Stewart got his big break in Hollywood when he landed a job on the 1992 “The Larry Sanders Show.”

The comedian rose to prominence as a bonafide television personality in the 2000s after hosting “The Daily Show” in 1999 on Comedy Central. Before his stint on the news program, Stewart, who started his showbiz career as a stand-up comedian, starred in several movies playing himself.

He appeared in “Half Baked,” “The Faculty,” and “Playing by Heart.” While he wears many hats within the entertainment industry, Stewart is also a family man.

In a March 2002 interview, Jon Stewart shared that he, like fellow actor William Christopher, met his wife Tracey McShane on a blind date. At the time, Stewart was working in Manhattan when a crew member mentioned her roommate to him:

“I know this girl who I think you would very much like.”

Stewart was taken by the description of the potential love interest and decided to contact her. “And what happened was, I wrote her number on a dollar bill. And this was when I still smoked, so I went and bought cigarettes with the thing,” he explained. As a result, he lost the number and could not contact her for some time. However, he managed to get the number again and dialed her.

When asked if he liked McShane upon meeting, Stewart said yes and revealed he was “nervous.” He mentioned that he usually talked more than usual when he felt nervous, whereas she was the opposite. Nonetheless, the actor divulged that he and McShane would like a family.

Four years later, he decided to ask for her hand in marriage and had thought out of the box for the proposal. He had the help of New York Times crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz, who is deemed the Wizard of Oz by crossword puzzle fanatics.

Stewart contacted him to create a crossword puzzle to put clues that would lead to a marriage proposal. This creative idea was reminiscent of fellow Hollywood star Brad Pitt’s “fantastic” proposal. The political commentator and his love married in May 2000 and have been husband and wife for 22 years. Another actor who has also reached the milestone of being married for over two decades is Christian Bale.

While Stewart is a Hollywood star, his beloved wife is a writer and a former veterinarian. However, she initially studied design at Drexel University and launched a career with that. Although she excelled in every position she held, McShane revealed in a 2015 interview that her spouse suggested she try something new:

“He knew that I always wanted to be a veterinarian when I was young, and he suggested to me that I go back to school for that.”

Aside from being a vet technician, the Pennsylvania native is also a published author of the book “Do Unto Animals,” which was the No. 1 New York Times best-seller in 2015. It also serves as her Instagram handle.

McShane’s love for animals is apparent, and she shares her passion with her famous husband. Together, they have created a lively home filled with four dogs, three rabbits, four pigs, two guinea pigs, two fish, one hamster, and one parrot.

In addition, she and Stewart co-founded an animal sanctuary called “The Hey Friend Foundation” in New Jersey after purchasing a farm.

The goal on their foundation’s website states, “Our mission is to unite community leaders and other like-minded organizations to better serve communities in need and alleviate nutrition insecurity.”

Apart from rescuing animals, Stewart and McShane are parents of two children. However, the road to parenthood was not without its challenges. In an October 2015 interview, she revealed how she struggled to conceive and opted for Invitro Fertilization (IVF).

During this process, Stewart played a supportive role and was responsible for administering the necessary injections. Luckily for the couple, IVF worked in their favor, and they welcomed their first-born son Nathan in July 2004, four years after walking down the aisle.

He was born when his father was in his forties, and not much is known about the now-teenager, but he constantly features on his mother’s social media, especially when he was a pre-teen.

Following the arrival of their son Nathan, Stewart and McShane had exciting news to share. In October 2005, they announced they were expecting their second child. Their daughter Maggie was born in February 2006.

At the time, Stewart, also a director, divulged he was excited about being a girl dad but admitted he was nervous about raising a daughter.

“I don’t know that much about women,” he admitted, adding when his son has a problem, he would be able to offer solutions but would have difficulty doing the same for his daughter. “A girl, she’s going to want me to have tea with her and her panda. Like, what am I going to do with that?”

Like her older brother, Maggie frequently appears on her mother’s Instagram account. Despite her dad’s nerves, they have formed a solid father-daughter bond. McShane posted a picture of the pair in September 2016 and captioned it, “These two spread a lot of nice on a day when it was really needed.”