Martin Short gushes over his ‘love’ for Meryl Streep after dispelling relationship rumors

Martin Short has gushed over his friendship with Meryl Streep after previously denying rumors that they’re dating.

The 74-year-old actor opened up about his bond with his Only Murders in the Building co-star during a recent interview with Extra, alongside his two castmates, Selena Gomez and Steve Martin. Short noted that as he and Streep have continued to work together on the show, in which their characters are in a relationship, their friendship has continued to strengthen.

“I think it’s been a friendship that always grows,” he said. “If you work with someone and love that person.”

Although Short didn’t “want to reveal too much” about what happened between his and Streep’s characters – Oliver Putnam and Loretta Durking – Gomez chimed in to say the onscreen romance is “so sweet”.

Martin then stepped in to share that the Sophie’s Choice star “is a friend” to all three of them.

“I’ve worked with her. I very fortunately did a movie with her,” he said, referring to their 2015 rom-com, It’s Complicated. “If I don’t see her for two years, you get back together. You’re already laughing and talking, it’s friendly.”

Short’s comments about his friendship with Streep also came days after they posed together and held hands at the season four premiere of Only Murders in the Building in Los Angeles. Although Short made it clear that he and Streep are friends, fans were quick to once again speculate on X (formerly known as Twitter) that they’re an item, since they were also seen holding hands at the premiere after party for their show on August 23.

Back in January, rumors were first swirling that Short and Streep were in a relationship. However, the Innerspace star’s representative quickly shut those claims down, clarifying to The Messenger: “They are just very good friends, nothing more.”

Days later, the Saturday Night Live alum once again reiterated that he and Streep were not together. “We’re not a couple. We are just very close friends,” he said in January, during an episode of the Club Random podcast, after host Bill Maher called the two stars a “power couple”.

The romance rumors also came months after Streep revealed that she and her husband of 45 years, Don Gummer, had actually split up years ago.

“Don Gummer and Meryl Streep have been separated for more than 6 years, and while they will always care for each other, they have chosen lives apart,” a representative for the A-lister said in a statement in October.

Before their split, Gummer and the One True Thing star welcomed four children who are now adults: Henry Wolfe, 44, Mamie Gummer, 41, Grace Gummer, 38, and Louisa Jacobson, 33.

Short’s wife of 30 years, Nancy Dolman unfortunately died of ovarian cancer in 2010 at the age of 58. The pair shared three children: Katherine, 40, Oliver, 38, and Henry, 35.