Modern Family returned with a new season, Season 11, last week on Wednesday, January 8, on ABC. With the new season returned a familiar face, a character that viewers first saw back in 2014. Stephen Merchant, who appeared in the role of Leslie Higgins, returned to Modern Family to reprise his role after 6 years. Read on to know more about Stephen Merchant and his personal life ongoings. 

Stephen Merchant is more than just an actor

Bristol-born Stephen James Merchant is widely known for his onscreen stints. Beginning since 1999, Merchant has appeared in more than 30 television shows and 19 movies so far, the best one being The Ricky Gervais Show. The show was co-created by Stephen and his friends Ricky Gervais and Karl Pilkington. 

Merchant met Gervais for the first time in 1997 when Gervais hired him as an assistant. Gervais was the Head of Speech at XFM London during that time. Before that, Merchant worked as a stand-up comedian. He recalls, “The first week I did really well. The second week I died on my arse. I realized that stand-up was not that easy after all."  He also appeared in the game show Blockbusters and worked briefly as a DJ before meeting Gervais. 

Merchant and Gervais have co-created many hit shows like The Office (UK), Extras, An Idiot Abroad, and Life’s Too Short. They later teamed up with Karl Pilkington and launched their weekly podcast called The Ricky Gervais Show in early 2016, which went on to become the most popular in the world. The podcast set the record in Guinness World Records for becoming the most downloaded of all time, as well.

Is Stephen Merchant married?

Stephen Merchant is not married to anyone yet but he sure has a special someone whom he has been dating for the past 2 and a half years. 

The 45-year-old actor who previously blamed his tall stature and reserved nature for causing hindrance in finding true love began dating American actor and model Mircea Monroe in July of 2017. 

Monroe, who is a former model and actress, is best known for her role as Morning Randolph in Episodes, a TV show co-written by Merchant himself. She has plenty of other successful gigs under her belt which includes Scrubs, Anger Management, Without a Trace, etc. 

In the past, Merchant has been romantically linked with a few famous names like author Alexandra Heminsley, actress Hayley Atwell although the later one has denied dating Merchant. 

His most famous relationship was with actress Christine Marzano, which apparently was his longest relationship back then. They began dating in late 2014 and separated in 2017 due to Merchant’s busy working schedule. 

Talking of his relationship with his current girlfriend Monroe, they were first seen together in around June 2017 but it was not until August of 2018 that their relationship got an official status when they appeared together at a red carpet event. 

The couple is currently living together in Merchant’s London-based home. He has another home in Nichols Canyon, Los Angeles, the one that Ellen DeGeneres owned previously. Reportedly, Merchant has a net worth of $30 million as of now.

Will there be another season of Modern Family (Season 12)?

It was confirmed back in February 2019 that Modern Family would come back for Season 11. Sadly, it was also announced that the eleventh season would be the very last for this Emmy-winning family comedy. 

It’s going to be tough to say goodbye. After 11 seasons, we say farewell to our #ModernFamily. pic.twitter.com/qi1RAkJ6NR

— Modern Family (@ModernFam) January 11, 2020

Reportedly, the final episode of the show will air on April 8, 2020, that is if the schedule stays on track or if the episodes are not preempted. So far, the exact number of episodes for this season is not confirmed either but we will be sure to update you once any announcement is made. 

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