full size Chris Ivery and Ellen Pompeo at the 2006 Writers Guild Awards
Credit: David Livingston/Getty Images
Photo:
Chris Ivery and Ellen Pompeo at the 2006 Writers Guild Awards

Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo (Meredith Grey) and her husband of almost five years, Chris Ivery, are one of those Hollywood couples that really doesn’t mind being photographed in public together. And fans love them for it.

Aside from the fact that these two have a daughter, 2 ½ year old Stella Luna Pompeo Ivery (check out adorable photos of Ellen and Stella here), we realized that we don’t know a lot about Chris. Is he as romantic as Ellen’s on-screen husband, Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey)? How did they meet?

We’ve compiled 5 things to know about Mrs. Ellen right here.

Chris and Ellen met in a grocery store. Before Ellen was Meredith Grey (and before there even was a Meredith Grey), the love interest in Old School met music producer Chris in 2003, in a grocery store in Los Angeles. We always thought meeting the love of your life at the grocery store was one of those relationship myths that never actually happened, but leave it to Ellen to prove us wrong.

They are both huge Boston Celtics fans. One of the first things Chris and Ellen realized that they had in common was the fact that they both grew up just outside Boston — but the serendipity didn’t stop there. Apparently they grew up “just 10 miles away from each other” near Cambridge, MA, where Harvard’s legendary campus is. And they are spotted sitting front row at Celtics games constantly.

full size Ellen Pompeo and Husband Chris Ivery Leave a Grammy's After Party at The Chateau Marmont in Hollywood on February 13, 2012
Credit: SPW / Splash News
Photo:
Ellen Pompeo and Husband Chris Ivery Leave a Grammy's After Party at The Chateau Marmont in Hollywood on February 13, 2012

Gossip focuses on Chris’ funny business. Divorce rumors and cheating “scandals” have plagued Chris and Ellen ever since they got married in 2007. But the couple has stayed together despite all the gossip, and still seem to be going strong — the romantic Valentine’s Day evenings are still on the schedule, after all. 

Chris designs Stella’s baby wardrobe. Well, not entirely, but Ellen did tell the other Ellen (DeGeneres) that Chris “loves dressing her up like him...He goes out and buys her clothes that look like his clothes.” That’s something we doubt we’ll see Derek doing for Zola anytime soon. 

Chris proposed on her birthday. In a move arguably more romantic than Derek’s surgery-strewn elevator proposal to Meredith, Chris presented Ellen with a 3.5-carat diamond ring on her 37th birthday. Ellen toldPeople, “we were six degrees our whole lives, so I feel like we were sort of meant to be.”

Catch an all-new Grey’s Anatomy on Thursday, February 23 at 9pm ET/PT on ABC. 

SourcesPeopleExtraTV

Satisfy your Grey’s Anatomy addiction: Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter and Tumblr.