NEED TO KNOW
- Season 3 of Criminal Minds: Evolution premiered on May 8.
- Many Criminal Minds cast members — including Joe Mantegna and Mandy Patinkin — have been married for a long time.
- Here’s everything to know about the real-life spouses of the Criminal Minds cast.
Tracking down serial killers isn’t exactly romantic, but CBS’ Criminal Minds still managed to weave romance into the show for 15 seasons.
Fans were first introduced to Criminal Minds‘ team of Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) profilers in 2005. Over the next decade and a half, the characters experienced many highs and lows — including marriage, divorce and even deaths of significant others.
The series came to a close in 2020 before getting a Paramount+ revival titled Criminal Minds: Evolution. Season 3 of Evolution premiered on May 8.
Unlike many other procedurals, Criminal Minds didn’t feature inter-team romances. Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Special Agent Jennifer “JJ” Jareau (A.J. Cook) confessed their love for each another in season 14, but ultimately remained platonic.
Unlike their characters, many of the cast members have found partners who are involved in their industry. Joe Mantegna met his wife Arlene Vrhel in a Chicago production of Hair, while Mandy Patinkin has been married to actress Kathryn Grody since 1980.
Here’s everything to know about the real-life partners of the Criminal Minds cast.
Joe Mantegna and Arlene Vrhel
Joe Mantegna, who joined Criminal Minds during season 3 as Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi and has continued to play the character in Criminal Minds: Evolution, has been married for 50 years.
The actor met his now-wife, Arlene Vrhel, in 1969 when they were both cast in a Chicago production of Hair. Vrhel told PEOPLE that they waited years to get married because they were “hippies.”
Mantegna and Vrhel eventually wed in 1975, but before legally saying, “I do,” the couple exchanged private, informal vows at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
The pair share two daughters, Gia and Mia.
Kirsten Vangsness
Kirsten Vangsness portrayed eccentric tech analyst and media liaison Penelope Garcia on Criminal Minds for 15 seasons before reprising her role in Criminal Minds: Evolution.
The actress has maintained a fairly private personal life over the years. In 2015, she told PEOPLE that she was engaged to actor and writer Keith Hanson.
Vangsness has not publicly revealed if she and Hanson ever tied the knot. They haven’t been seen together in many years.
Matthew Gray Gubler
Gubler starred as Dr. Spencer Reid on Criminal Minds for 15 seasons. He’s set to make his Criminal Minds: Evolution debut in the third season.
Gubler is not known to have any romantic ties at the moment, however, the actor is a self-proclaimed “great dater.”
“I don’t go on a ton of dates, but when I do, I try to make dates really spectacular,” he told Glamour in 2015. “I’d pick her up with Sam Cook playing on the radio, driving with the windows down and the heat on, then go to maybe a museum like the Neue Galerie in New York, walk around aimlessly in Central Park, go to dinner somewhere great.”
He continued, “New York is probably the best place to go on a date. And if at any point it’s terrible, you can hail a cab and run! I joke!”
A.J. Cook and Nathan Andersen
Cook married her husband, Nathan Andersen, in 2001 — four years before her debut on Criminal Minds season 1.
Cook — who continues to play JJ in Criminal Minds: Evolution — shares two sons, Mekhai and Phoenix, with Andersen.
Thomas Gibson
Thomas Gibson portrayed troubled workaholic Aaron “Hotch” Hotchner in 257 episodes of Criminal Minds. He was fired from the show in 2016 following an alleged physical altercation with a writer.
Gibson is currently single. He has three children — James, Travis and Agatha — with his ex-wife, Christine, whom he split from in 2014 after more than 20 years of marriage.
Paget Brewster and Steve Damstra
Paget Brewster joined Criminal Minds during season 2 as Special Agent Emily Prentiss. She took a break from the CBS show when her character left the BAU for a job at Interpol (seasons 8 through 11), but returned as a series regular. Brewster has continued playing Prentiss on Evolution.
Gubler was actually the one to introduce Brewster to her now-husband, musician Steve Damstra, she told a Criminal Minds fan site in 2016. Damstra and Brewster got married in 2014, per Instagram.
“[Gubler] is my husband’s best friend so I saw him all the time when I wasn’t on [Criminal Minds], and I owe him, in perpetuity, for introducing – and marrying me – to Steve,” she said.
Shemar Moore
Shemar Moore, who played heartthrob Derek Morgan for seasons 1 through 11 and appeared as a guest during seasons 12 and 13, is currently single.
In 2023, the actor welcomed his daughter, Frankie, with his now-ex-girlfriend, Jesiree Dizon. The pair went their separate ways in January 2025. They continue to co-parent.
Adam Rodriguez and Grace Gail
Adam Rodriguez played Task Force Agent Luke Alvez on seasons 12 to 15 before joining the Paramount+ revival.
The actor married model Grace Gail in 2016. They share three children, daughters Frankie and Georgie and son Bridgemont.
Aisha Tyler
Aisha Tyler starred as Dr. Tara Lewis in Criminal Minds seasons 11 through 15. She has since reprised her role in Evolution.
The actress, who is currently single, split from attorney Jeff Tietjens in 2015 after more than two decades together.
Daniel Henney and Ru Kumagai
Daniel Henney made guest appearances on Criminal Minds as Special Agent Matt Simmons during seasons 10 and 12, joining the show as a series regular for the remaining three seasons.
In October 2023, Henney married actress Ru Kumagai.
“My wife, Ru, is wonderful, she’s my life partner. She is much more my better half than me,” the actor said on The May Lee Show in 2024. “She’s been the greatest thing that’s happened to me.”
Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody
Patinkin, who appeared in 47 episodes of Criminal Minds as Special Agent Jason Gideon, is married to Grody, an actress.
The couple wed in 1980 and went on to welcome two sons: Isaac and Gideon.
“My wife has been my north star in so many ways. She is always right, with very few exceptions,” Patinkin told CNN in 2020.
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