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Watch Adorable, Romantic Stephen Colbert Share How He Met His Wife

As he does before most Late Show tapings, Stephen Colbert recently took a few questions from the audience, and when one person asked him how he knew his wife of 23 years was “the one,” Colbert couldn’t stop himself from launching into an epic love story. Like any good saga, it involves the comedian hanging out at a party with his his mom, love at first sight, acknowledgment that love at first sight is a silly idea, and an obscure reference to Robert Fagles’s translation of The Odyssey. Colbert then turned his back on her for the “most harrowing minute of my life,” because, as the saying goes, when you love someone, set her free, and see if she will keep standing near you for a full 60 seconds.

Stephen Colbert Shares How He Met His Wife