Fran Drescher has no regrets about her current single status. “It takes a lot of work!” she tells News Of Los Angeles of being in a relationship.
The 68-year-old actress says her unusually close bond with her gay ex-husband, Peter Marc Jacobson, can complicate her romantic prospects. “Selfishly, I don’t want to compromise. That’s a lot of what it is when you’re with somebody…but the more you live on your own, the less you want to do that, and the less you need it if you happen to have a gay ex-husband.”
From Teenage Sweethearts to Creative Partners
Drescher met Jacobson when she was 15, and the pair married in 1978 when she was 21. They co-created the hit sitcom The Nanny and remained married until 1999, the same year the show ended and Jacobson publicly came out as gay. Although it took about a year after the divorce to rebuild their friendship, the two are now closer than ever.
“I can have friends with benefits. That’s easy,” Drescher continues of dating men. “But because I have Peter, I think he’s a bit of a c—block. I take him to everything, and I don’t really care. I have a gay ex-husband – live with it! But I’ve been with him since I was 15. Who can compete with that? And over the years, he grew tremendously. He’s not the same person. Neither one of us are who we were when we were married.”
Traveling, Writing, and Family Ties
The ex-couple not only write together and socialize together, they also vacation as a unit. “But we are soulmates. So soulmates really can’t ever [split]…they’re like magnets, and we just had to figure out how to be happily divorced, and we so are,” Drescher explains. “We travel together now, and my family is his family and it’s great. I mean, we feel very blessed that we cherish each other the way we do.”
Drescher credits their evolving relationship to personal growth and lowered expectations. “Sometimes, that feeling that you had way back in the beginning, that got all messed up in a marriage that probably shouldn’t have been, you can kind of rekindle that if you just pare it down to much simpler expectations. And we’re good with that.”
Buddhist Perspective on Marriage
The actress describes her spiritual outlook as a hybrid: “I’m a Buddhist or a Bu-Jew, if you want to call it that.” She applies this philosophy to understanding why some marriages don’t last, even when love remains. “You’re not supposed to be married to everybody just because you love them, and you learn that the hard way very often.”
Drescher emphasizes personal accountability for happiness. “We put a lot on our mate that we don’t so much put on our friends,” she observes, suggesting that shifting that burden back to oneself can salvage relationships-albeit in redefined forms.
At a Glance
- Fran Drescher says her gay ex-husband Peter Marc Jacobson is her “soulmate” and close companion.
- The actress admits their tight bond can interfere with new romantic relationships.
- The pair met at 15, married at 21, divorced in 1999, and now travel and write together.
- Why it matters: Drescher’s story challenges conventional ideas about divorce, companionship, and finding happiness outside traditional marriage structures.
