The Rookie‘s Eric Winter and Roselyn Sánchez prove that it is possible to have a long-lasting marriage in Hollywood.
Before meeting each other, Winter was married to actress Allison Ford from 2001 to 2005 while Sánchez was married to Gary Stretch from 1998 to 2001. The couple subsequently crossed paths in 2005 and the rest is history. After getting married in 2008, Sánchez and Winter expanded their family with kids Sebella and Dylan.
The pair also continued to find success in their respective careers — but they weren’t in a rush to share the screen.
“It had to be the right thing and something fun and cute that was a family affair,” Winter told MediaVillage in 2019 about their Hallmark film A Taste of Summer. “And that’s what this was like. Our son and daughter could join us, so they were on set and able to be a part of the experience.”
Winter recalled learning new things about his wife.
“We had a blast but our process is very different. This was a lighthearted romantic comedy, so there was no point in us being all crazy serious,” he exclusively told Us Weekly at the time. “I goof around on set and have fun with everybody.”
He continued: “Roselyn was so serious. I was looking at her like, ‘Why do you look like you want to kill me? We’re working together, we’re supposed to be falling in love!’”
Sánchez, meanwhile, enjoyed starring in a movie about some friendly competition turning to love because it felt close to home.
“In real life, it’s just our personalities. We have game nights with our friends, and Eric is much more competitive than me when it comes to that kind of thing,” she told MediaVillage. “So, we do get into crazy banter and fight over that, but only because he gets crazy out of control. It’s always in fun.”
Over the years, Sánchez and Winter have continued to find ways to collaborate on new projects and support each other’s professional endeavors. Keep scrolling to relive their romance:
2005
The duo met at a party but it took three more months before Winter asked Sánchez out. During an interview with InStyle, Sánchez and Winter recalled going for sushi before going away for the weekend for their second date.
2007
After two years of dating, Winter proposed to Sánchez on a midnight kayak ride in Puerto Rico, where she was born.
“I was petrified she would drop the ring,” he told InStyle about popping the question. “It never left the box. She accepted. I shut the box and told her she could see it again on land.”
2008
Sánchez and Winter tied the knot with a ceremony in Puerto Rico at Castillo de San Cristóbal.
2012
Sánchez welcomed her and Winter’s first child, daughter Sebella.
“Welcome to the world beautiful Sebella Rose Winter! Mami and Daddy adore you! This joy is overwhelming. Thanks for all of the well wishes!” she wrote via X at the time.
2017
Their son, Dylan, was born two years later, with Sánchez telling People en Español, “After many years of dreaming about you, you came into our lives in perfect condition! We are all so happy with your arrival. Your sister Sebella Rose looks at you with indescribable tenderness. Thank you for choosing our family to start your life. We love you.”
Sánchez and Winter later opened up about conceiving their kids via IVF.
“Thank God that we have human beings that dedicate their lives to be fertility doctors. They’re making miracles happen and they’re [helping] women like me who want to be moms so badly,” the actress said. “I think it’s a wonderful thing.”
Sánchez called the process “pretty intense and pretty brutal” before revealing she lost daughter Sebella’s twin “very early on.” She subsequently went through more than six rounds of treatment before getting pregnant with Dylan.
2017
After becoming parents, Sánchez and Winter collaborated professionally on a children’s book titled Sebi and the Land of Cha Cha Cha. The bilingual venture was inspired by their desire to teach their daughter about her Puerto Rican heritage.
2019
During an interview with Hallmark’s Home & Family, Sánchez gushed over Winter as a dad, saying, “He’s an amazing father. As a woman, when you think about being a mother at some point, you’re very blessed and very lucky if you find someone who is going to be an amazing dad.”
Winter had similar praise for Sánchez. “I admire her drive and commitment to anything she wants to do,” he said. “She tells me all the time, ‘I want to do this, I have no idea how I’m going to do it, but I want to do this.’ And she makes it happen. It’s a true inspiration to me.”
2019
“We are complete opposites on almost everything, which is really ironic,” Sánchez quipped during a joint interview with Us. “We’re always trying to find ways of collaborating, working together. If we work together, it means that we’re going to be located at the same place and that the family stays together.”
Sánchez even recalled pitching a reality TV show. “For a second, I was like, ‘Oh.’ Then he’s like, ‘Absolutely not. We’re not doing reality TV.’ So that’s not going to work,” Sánchez said before joking that her husband was scared they’d end up divorced if they made their lives that public, to which Winter added, “I don’t think I could put all our life out there every week. We argue enough about what she posts on Instagram!”
He continued: “People that know us have been saying this to us for a while. They’re like, ‘You guys are nuts! You fight about everything, in a fun way. You laugh about it together.’”
2019
In addition to starring in A Taste of Summer, Sánchez and Winter branched out with their “He Said, Ella Dijo” podcast.
“Roselyn Sánchez is quirky, fiery and sassy. She met her match with straight-laced, type A, perfectionist actor Eric Winter,” read the official show description. “Aries and Cancer do not make the perfect match, but they are fighting the signs and have been together for 15 years.”
2020
Sánchez made an appearance on Winter’s hit ABC series The Rookie. The hit series followed police offers from a precinct in Los Angeles. Winter’s performance as Tim Bradford left an impression — especially once the show started to explore his onscreen chemistry with Melissa O’Neil, who plays Lucy Chen.
2021
Continuing their trend of sharing the screen, Winter made a guest appearance on Sánchez’s Fox series Fantasy Island, which took inspiration from the original 1977 series.
2022
“We’re like opposites and nobody understands how we — with now 17 years together, two kids later — people always go, ‘How the heck do you guys make it work? Because you guys disagree on everything,’” Sánchez told Us. “But it’s funny, you know? We do it with respect, we do it with honesty.”
Sánchez went on to joke that their podcast is “almost like a therapy session” as they continue learning life lessons about parenting while having “a laugh doing it.”
2023
Deadline reported that comedy series El Patio, which would star Winter and Sánchez, was in the works at Fox.
2024
Winter celebrated his and Sánchez’s anniversary, writing via Instagram, “16 yrs ago I asked you to marry me, and I can honestly say these have been the best years of my life! 19 yrs together and counting, and I’m excited for the memories we will continue to make. Te amo mucho and 🥂 to the life we continue to build together. Happy Anniversary @roselyn_sanchez ❤️.”
