TV Guide August 2006- Christopher Meloni preps for the Emmys

TV Guide: What's up for Stabler this season?
Meloni: He has to deal with a new partner [played by] Connie Nielsen. And Mariska and I have to figure out who we are and what we are and where we are in our professional relationship. Stabler's wife comes back in the picture a little bit. That's been fun, and...weird.

TV Guide: That's interesting, considering she hasn't been in your life for a season. In what way does she come back into Stabler's life?
Meloni: She and I have to figure out who we are, what we are and where we are in our personal relationship. [Laughs]

TV Guide: Here are three gorgeous women trying to figure out their relationships with you. What's up with that?
Meloni: Damn, baby. It's about time I got a little bit of this action!
TV Guide: What kind of surprises can we expect?
Meloni: That's a question for [executive producer] Neal [Baer]. But there's a lot of room to play. We were very happy with what was happening between my wife and I, so we decided to go with that.
TV Guide: You might get back with her?
Meloni: I don't know what the dynamics are, but she'll play a little larger role in my life, yeah

TV Guide September 2006- Fall Preview

Where We Left Off: Elliot Stabler found himself estranged from both his partner Detective Olivia Benson and his wife, Kathy.

D-I-V-O-R-C-E? [Mariska] Hargitay, who gave birth to a son in June, will appear in the new season’s first episode (filmed last January) but won’t be back until around episode 9. Her character’s absence- she ditched sex crimes for computer cons- will allow plenty of time for the show to take a closer look at the Stabler family strife. “We’re not even clear as to who wants the divorce and why,” says Meloni of the confusion around the troubled marriage.

Un-Stabler: Season 8 will find Stabler questioning his passionate approach to work. “I think he always felt the emotional wake of his estrangement from the two most important women in his life. The character finds that rage starts eating him apart.” Executive producer Neal Baer offers cryptically, “something profound happens to him.”

Is it getting hot in here? While Benson’s away, Stabler will be teamed up for 6 episodes with Warrants officer, Dani Beck, played by Connie Nielson. “SVU goes places it’s never been before,” Baer says. Adds Meloni, “Sparks fly.” Excuse us? “I think my character is having a difficult time with where to place his emotions these days,” the actor explains.

TV Guide February 2007- SVU’s Expecting News

…Although the cases they work are still the series’ hook, their soap-opera-like personal sagas, Stabler’s unstable home life…have been stealing the focus of late…There certainly are no plans for them [Stabler and Benson] to get together anything soon, particularly since Stabler is trying to reconcile with Kathy, his estranged wife.

TV Guide April 2007- Q&A with Michael Ausiello

Please, for the love of God, tell me a little more on the SVU baby bombshell? I know you dwindle it down to Dani, Olivia, or Kathy, but can’t you give us a little more information?

The baby will be conceived on May 8^th

TV Guide May 2007- Q&A with Christopher Meloni

Det. Elliot Stabler's sexy, complicated, intense roots can be found in
Christopher Meloni's early guest roles on Homicide: Life on the Street and NYPD Blue, and even in his boundary-busting portrayal of a bisexual killer on OZ. It's all on display tonight in a strong Law & Order: SVU episode that takes Stabler on an emotional, twist-filled journey. - Ileane Rudolph
Tonight, Nip/Tuck's Dylan Walsh plays a married father, possibly a CIA agent, and a suspect in a young woman's murder. Why is Stabler so emotionally involved in this case?
-You see a guy who's outwardly a family man like Elliot, who has everything going for him, but this guy's living a double life. He has a mistress on the side and the pressure leads to horrible [decisions]. Elliot is estranged from his wife and this case goes to the heart of how easily everything can be taken away from you.
Which leads to something rarely seen on L&O - a hot love scene in which, shades of Oz, you’re pretty much exposed? Did you ask for that?
-No, please write down I never begged for the beefcake. I will say that when I [read the script], I had a very broad smile on my face. It hasn't been seen in this venue, so I was up for it.
His estranged wife is his romantic partner. Does that lead to a reconciliation? We hear there's a major development.
-I can't divulge that. What's great about that scene is that it was painful, amid not only the wreckage of our marriage, but what I am dealing with. It spoke volume far beyond my bare ass.

TV Guide May 2007- Q&A about the finale and future of returning TV shows

On Law & Order: SVU, will Elliot move back home with Kathy and the kids now that she's pregnant?
Executive Producer Neal Baer says: Earlier in the season, in the episode "Burned"- in which a husband and wife kept doing more and more terrible things to each other- Elliot [Christopher Meloni]thought about going back to Kathy [Isabel Gillies]. He didn't want to be that kind of person- he wanted the safety and comfort of home. But he just wasn't able to take the final step, because he's so tortured by the work he does. It took a cataclysmic case where a family was destroyed for him to decide to make the move back. When Dylan Walsh's character murdered his wife and children in "Annihilated", it brought home to Elliot how things can change in an instant and made him realize how much he loved his wife and family. In the finale, he found out that Kathy's pregnant. His kids range from age 15 to 22, so next season he's going to have to learn how to be a father to a child again, as well as a husband.

TV Guide 2007- Fall Preview

Ausiello’s Spoilers

…also, Stabler is officially back playing house with his pregnant ex, Kathy, and their eldest daughter is officially TV’s most annoying teen.

(correction note: their second eldest daughter)

Where We Left Off: Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) learned his estranged wife Kathy (Isabel Gillies) was pregnant.

What’s next: Stabler moves back home…In the premiere, Cynthia Nixon plays an archeologist with six personalities- shouldn’t she have eight?- who kidnaps her own baby and threatens Stabler’s family.

TV Guide April 2008- SVU Storms Back!

Meanwhile, Stabler is back with his wife and kids, including a new baby. "Elliot is going to be dealing with his 17-year-old, who is now a problem child," Meloni says. "He has gone to the dark place with his rage, and I think having nearly lost his family, his wife, his new baby, he sees life through different eyes."

E! Online Watch with Kirsten Spring 2009

Is there any chance we will ever see any Stabler-Benson action on SVU?

Is it just us or does it seems like that sorta-relationship has been teased for the past 10 seasons? Unfortunately for you EO fans there aren’t any plans for a future relationship. Showrunner Neal Baer tells us that Stabler’s rocky marriage is finally on an upswing and that some of the Stabler clan is heading back to SVU. “We might be seeing a family member again before the end of the year”. As far as Olivia and Elliot go, Neal is really playing up the success of their partnership. “I don’t think any show has gone on as long as SVU with the same partners. Mariska and Chris have been on the show together for 10 years.”

Telestar (French) with Chris Meloni March 2010

When will there be a love story between Stabler and Benson?

It would be a bad idea. This destroys the credibility of our characters. Elliot is married and has five children. When it was mentioned that there was going to be a divorce, the viewers did not like it. So if he was banging his partner, it would become totally unacceptable!

TV Guide May 2011- Ask the Editors

An Orderly Marriage-

Help! I watch Law & Order: SVU new episodes and reruns and I’m not sure if Stabler’s divorced, reconciled, or what right now?

“Elliot and his wife are currently together”, says a show rep. The Stablers were separated, then got pregnant, reconciled, and had Elliot Jr. They’ve never been divorced.

Christopher Meloni’s Television Interview Snippets

The View 2006

Q: His personal life is going downhill, his partnership…

Chris: Yeah, everyone has their own opinion about that. That’s the best part, going out on the streets and people are like “Get back with her, she’s the best thing that ever happen in your life”

Q: I know that your TV wife is named Kathy, isn’t it?

Chris: Hm-mm

The Rachael Ray Show, 2007

Q: I think you bring that to the character a lot of conflicts, you know.

Chris: I’m very privileged, my character you get to understand his home life and how he feels about his children and the things going on with his wife, how he is suffering and dealing with that. You know, it’s a lot.

Live with Regis and Kelly, 2007

(filling them in on what’s happening lately with his character)

Chris:…There’s going to be a new addition to my family.

Today Show, 2008

Q: Bring us up to date on what’s happening with Elliot these days?

Chris: He’s gone back to his wife, he has a new baby- a little boy. He’s trying to make things work in his family life.