The Real Life Partners Of The Cast Of Law And Order: SVU
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit has been entertaining (and alternately horrifying) us for 22 seasons. In that time, many cast members have come and gone and come again (we're looking at you, Elliot Stabler/Christopher Meloni) while others, like Mariska Hargitay, have remained for the entire run of the show. Hargitay has been with the show since it debuted in 1999, while Ice-T was cast in the second season and remains on it to this day.
Other characters, such as those played by Richard Belzer, Stephanie March, BD Wong, and most recently, Christopher Meloni have returned to SVU in guest appearances after leaving their jobs as series regulars. Richard Belzer originated his character of Detective John Munch on "Homicide: Life on the Street." He brought that character to SVU in 1999 and then appeared as Munch on "The Wire," "30 Rock," and "Arrested Development" as well before finally leaving SVU in 2013.
The real-life partners of the cast of "Law and Order: SVU" have had to put up with the crazy schedules of their spouses and partners throughout the show's 22 seasons to date, so they deserve some praise of their own. Let's take a look at who those people are in the lives of current cast members Ice-T, Kelli Giddish, Peter Scanavino, Jamie Gray Hyder, and Mariska Hargitay.
Ice Loves Coco
Ice-T, aka Tracey Lauren Marrow, has played NYPD sergeant Odafin "Fin" Tutuola since the second season of Law and Order: SVU in 2000. He and swimsuit model Nicole "Coco" Austin met on a film set in 2001 and have been together ever since. Coco, who is the daughter of wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin, married Ice in 2002, per Coco's World. Ice and Coco even had their own reality show on E! for three seasons from 2011 to 2013 called Ice Loves Coco.
Coco is more than just a pretty face with an outrageously curvy body. "Behind the scenes Coco has actually been my personal assistant, similar to Sharon Osbourne and Ozzie, running all my businesses, all the logistics of tours and all that," Ice-T explained to PR.com in 2011. "Everything that I do other than act, Coco's on the phone making all those deals happen and doing everything that she's doing with her career, simultaneously. So I've got the easy job. I just go out and do the work and Coco handles all the business behind the scenes."
Ice-T and Coco have one child, a daughter named Chanel, who was born in 2015. And yes — Chanel has had her own Instagram account since birth.
Kelli Giddish's husband isn't in the film or television business
Kelli Giddish's first appearance on SVU was in a guest-starring role in 2007. She returned to the series and debuted as Detective Amanda Rollins on the 13th season of SVU in 2011, and also played Amanda Rollins on Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D.
On June 20, 2015, Giddish married businessman Laurence Faulborn in an intimate wedding ceremony in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Their beachfront wedding had a rustic theme and just 12 guests. The wedding planners said, "Kelli, Larry and their families were a joy to work with and with a beautiful array of fresh flowers, burlap and rustic charm, (hippy as Kelli would say) the setup and wedding was gorgeous," the wedding planners gushed, per Paradise Beach Weddings. "The weather was amazing and privacy was great."
She was five months pregnant with the couple's first child at her wedding. She gave birth to her son Ludo in October 2015, per Us Weekly. She shared that as a new mom, her "SVU" family rallied around her when Faulborn fell ill. "He was in the hospital for two months, completely paralyzed and they once again rallied around me," Giddish told Stuff. "The job, the people I work with and for, I can't say enough good things about." Thankfully, he apparently recovered, and they welcomed their second son, Charlie, in November 2018, per Us Weekly. Today, Faulborn's Instagram account is chock full of photos of Ludo and Charlie.
Peter Scanavino's wife is an artist
Peter Scanavino made three appearances in the "Law and Order" franchise before joining the cast full time during the 14th season in 2012. His first appearance was on "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" in 2005 as petty criminal Johnny Feist. Then, in 2009, he played a graphic designer on an episode of "Law and Order, and in 2013, he appeared on SVU. Finally, he was hired to play Dominic "Sonny" Carisi Jr. during the following season, per IMDB.
Scanavino keeps his private life pretty, well, private. He has been married to artist Lisha Bai since July 2, 2011, per IMDB. They have three children, which he's shown off on Twitter. Bai got her BFA in Painting at Washington University St. Louis. She has her MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Yale University, per Heavy. She has been a fine arts instructor at Pratt University in Brooklyn since 2008 and was previously an art and design instructor.
Jamie Gray Hyder feels responsible for representing the LGBTQ community on SVU
Jamie Gray Hyder is the newest member of the SVU team. She joined the cast during the 21st season, which ran in 2019-2020, per TV Line. She plays an openly bisexual police officer named Katriona "Kat" Tamin, making her the first LGBTQ officer on the show and the second LGBTQ main character, following B.D. Wong's Dr. George Huang.
In real life, Hyder has revealed that she's been intimate with both men and women, but prefers not to label herself. Though it doesn't seem that she is not publicly dating or partnered with anyone, she recognizes the importance of her role on TV. In an interview with E! News, she said she feels responsible to make sure the show isn't "representing any sort of stereotype or any negative connotation that's associated with the community."
"I want to present a whole person and Kat's sexual orientation is only a part of who she is," Hyder continued. "And while it's a very important part to her, I think the goal in the end is to present a whole and nuanced human. It's important to me as a person to make sure that while Kat's, bisexuality definitely informs a lot as to her life, it's definitely not the only aspect of her life."
Mariska Hargitay met her actor husband on the set of SVU
Mariska Hargitay's Detective Olivia Benson is the heart and soul of "Law and Order: SVU." She's been part of the show since the very first episode. She and "Younger's" Peter Hermann met on the set of "Law and Order: SVU," where Hermann appeared on 32 episodes of SVU playing Defense Attorney Trevor Langan. After filming wrapped, he asked her on a somewhat unconventional date. "We went to church together, and it was like getting hit with a lightning bolt," Hargitay explained to People. "I just started sobbing. Peter thought I was crying because I was so moved by the service. No, it was because I was just overwhelmed, realizing he was the one."
They married on August 28, 2004 in Santa Barbara, and they now share three kids. Hargitay gave birth to their son August Miklos Friedrich Herman via emergency c-section in 2006, per People. In April 2011, she and Hermann adopted a baby girl named Amaya Josephine. Six months later, they adopted a baby boy named Andrew Nicholas Hargitay Hermann.
Hermann is a veteran actor who's been on "Younger" since 2015 as Charles Brooks, the head of and heir to Empirical Press. He has also made recurring appearances on "Blue Bloods" as Bridget Moynahan's character Erin Regan's ex-husband, per Entertainment Weekly.