Sarah Paulson says she feels married to Holland Taylor, but won't wed

Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor have been together for over a decade. A wedding, though? Not happening, and Paulson has now explained why.

What happened?

The 51-year-old All's Fair star was a guest on the Nov. 12 episode of Chelsea Handler's podcast Dear Chelsea. She said marriage is simply not on her agenda.

"I'm happy that I haven't been married," Paulson said. "I feel that I've maintained some sense of myself in a way."

That doesn't mean the relationship is any less serious. "The bond, the connectivity I have with Holland, I feel married to her," she said.

Why not make it official?

For Paulson, it comes down to the paperwork, or rather the permanence of it. "I don't have or have never had the need to have it be something written in stone somehow," she explained. "The stoneness of it gives me the heebie-jeebies."

She also pointed to the "freedom" of staying unmarried. It's not about being away from Taylor or being with someone else, she said. It's about "maintaining some sense of my own independence."

And she says the two have always been on the same page. "We just have never, ever felt the need to [get married]."

And kids?

Paulson was just as clear on that. "I like my life. I'm happy that I haven't had children," she said.

She said she doesn't think she has the constitution to raise a child and then simply let them go off and have a great day. "I can just see myself following them," she joked.

The Ratched star put it plainly: "My heart is too fragile. I feel too many things. It's too much for me."

How did they get here?

Paulson and Taylor, the Two and a Half Men alum, started dating in 2015 after reconnecting. Before that, Paulson was with actress Cherry Jones from 2004 to 2009.

In 2020, Paulson also took the title role in Netflix's Ratched, a series from Ryan Murphy. These days, she says, she's happy with how her life looks, no ring required.