Sarah Paulson says the secret to her 12 years with Holland Taylor is that the two don’t live together, even as Paulson has spent almost a year at Taylor’s Los Angeles home while waiting to move into a house she bought. The couple keep separate properties.
Taylor, 83, explained the arrangement on The Drew Barrymore Show. She and Paulson, 51, also share Taylor’s New York City apartment whenever they’re both in town. Paulson stays there when she’s in the city, too.
“So we’re together as much as geography and our jobs let us be,” Taylor said, describing their relationship as “12 years, going on.” Work, she explained, regularly takes them to different places.
That adds context to an arrangement Paulson described in 2024, when she called having separate homes part of what made their relationship work.
“Yeah, we don’t live together. That’s the secret to it. We spend plenty of time together, but we don’t live in the same house,” Paulson said on the SmartLess podcast.
The couple met in 2005 and began dating a decade later. Paulson said she’d had a couple of long-term relationships before Taylor, while Taylor had less experience with them. She also acknowledged that sharing space could be an adjustment for her partner.
“I think it was a lot to sort of have me and all my me-ness in her space,” Paulson said.
When separate bedrooms were suggested, Paulson explained why she preferred sleeping beside Taylor: “I like to sleep near her.” She said they fall asleep holding hands.