Who Is Ellen Pompeo’s Husband? All About Chris Ivery (and Why He Hasn’t Watched Grey’s Anatomy!)

Ellen Pompeo and her husband, Chris Ivery, have been together for over 20 years.

The couple met in 2003 — two years before Pompeo earned her role as Dr. Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy — married in 2007 and later welcomed three children, Stella, Sienna and Eli.

Despite starring on the ABC hit for nearly 20 years, Pompeo admitted that Ivery hasn’t watched much of Grey’s Anatomy.

“I mean, Chris really never watched the show,” she said during a March 2025 appearance on Call Her Daddy. “It was better for him. He knew just not to watch. I was with him before Grey’s, so Grey’s kinda came out of nowhere for us, and I just think we were on this crazy ride that, we were just trying to hang on for dear life.”

As for the secret to their decades-long love? The actress told PEOPLE in 2018 it is partly due to Ivery’s understanding nature.

“My husband is not at all intimidated by my drive or my bossiness,” she shared.

So, who is Ellen Pompeo’s husband? Here is everything to know about Chris Ivery and his relationship with the Good American Family actress.

He was raised in Boston

Both Ivery and Pompeo have Boston roots. The actress told PEOPLE in 2006 that the pair had grown up only a few minutes apart in Boston. “We were six degrees our whole lives, so I feel like we were sort of meant to be,” she said.

Speaking to Alex Cooper on Call Her Daddy in 2025, Pompeo added that their shared Boston upbringing helped bring the couple closer together. “I think that what’s funny about Chris and I, because we come from the same place, we’re sort of two kids who made it out and then landed in Hollywood and jumped on this ride. We just couldn’t believe that something was actually happening — that it was great, that I had this great job and we were getting to travel all over the world,” Pompeo explained.

He works in fashion

Since 2019, Ivery has worked at Sergio Tacchini, a heritage athletics brand founded in 1966 by the Italian tennis champion. According to his LinkedIn, he is currently the brand’s chief executive for lifestyle marketing.

Prior to his work in fashion, Ivery worked in the music industry and is credited as a writer on Rihanna‘s song “Cheers (Drink to That).”

Ivery and Pompeo met in 2003

Pompeo and Ivery met in 2003 in a Los Angeles grocery store, the actress told PEOPLE in 2006. For six months, they were just friends. “Then one night she just looked different to me,” he recalled.

She elaborated on the story during a 2022 appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, explaining that their meet-cute at that grocery store wasn’t “some big romance that happened over crackers and cheese in the aisle.”

After their initial encounter, Pompeo said that Ivery tried to call her a few times, but she never called him back.

“Then he said, ‘You’re rude. You won’t call me back.’ And I said, ‘Well because I’m not trying to go on a date with you.’ And he said, ‘Who’s trying to go on a date with you? I don’t even know you,'” she said.

The actress jokingly added, “So we had a fight first, and … that’s kind of always the way to my heart is like piss me off and I’m all yours.”

They married in 2007

After three years of dating, Ivery proposed to Pompeo in 2006 on her 37th birthday.

“She was surprised and thrilled,” her rep told PEOPLE at the time. Pompeo’s engagement ring was a 3.5-carat, emerald-cut diamond in a platinum setting by the jewelry designer Tacori.

The pair tied the knot a year later in a quiet ceremony at City Hall in Lower Manhattan. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg served as a witness.

“She just didn’t want a big thing,” Pompeo’s father told PEOPLE. The actress had previously expressed her desire to have a small affair, telling PEOPLE after her engagement, “There will be no ‘big’ anything.’ It’s going to be very small.”

They share three kids: Stella, Sienna and Eli

Ivery and Pompeo have three children: Stella Luna, born in 2009, Sienna May, born in 2014, and Eli Christopher, born in 2016.

The actress previously discussed raising her two daughters with PEOPLE in 2016, saying that it’s important for her girls to have role models to look up to and that she prioritizes pointing out the accomplishments of Black women to them.

“My daughters are Black so it’s very important to me that they see a lot of images of beautiful, powerful, strong Black women,” she said.

“Every time there is a Black woman on a magazine cover, whether it is Kerry Washington or whoever it is, I make sure that magazine is in my house and on my table. For me, that’s super important.”

In July 2022, Pompeo, Ivery and their children made a rare public appearance at the Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda Women’s Show in Italy. She posted several photos of the family decked out in Dolce & Gabbana gear on Instagram, including one sweet snap of Ivery and Eli posing on a Vespa.

While Pompeo and Ivery’s kids are well aware of their mom’s Grey’s Anatomy fame, not all of them have watched the show. In 2025, Pompeo admitted that her older daughter Stella stopped watching the series after witnessing the character George O’Malley’s death.

“She literally cried,” the Good American Family star told PEOPLE. “I had to film it and I couldn’t hold it together.”

Ivery has been encouraging of Pompeo’s career

As Pompeo’s career has grown, Ivery has had to shift his mindset about her work, like her intimate scenes on Grey’s Anatomy.

“I remember in the beginning it was really hard for him,” she said on the Ladies First with Laura Brown podcast in 2021. “He was like, ‘This is not what I signed up for. You go to work and make out with that. I like Patrick [Dempsey] and everything, he’s a good dude, but like really?’ “

Despite Ivery’s early hesitation, the actress told PEOPLE in 2018 that her husband is encouraging of everything she does.

“I never thought I’d be at the height of my career at 48 years old. I’m at the top of my game, with no end in sight,” said Pompeo, adding that when it comes to being successful, “it’s really important for men to be on board.”

In April 2025, Ivery was there to support his wife when she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, posing for photos with Pompeo and kids Eli and Stella.