Patton Oswalt Shares New Details About His 2017 Board Game Proposal to Wife Meredith Salenger
- - Patton Oswalt Shares New Details About His 2017 Board Game Proposal to Wife Meredith Salenger
Ashlyn RobinetteJanuary 3, 2026 at 6:01 AM
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Patton Oswalt and Meredith Salenger in September 2025 -
Patton Oswalt proposed to his now-wife Meredith Salenger in July 2017
Oswalt looked back on his proposal on the Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson podcast
"In on the whole thing" wasThe King of Queens star's daughter, Alice, whom he welcomed with his late first wife Michelle McNamara
Patton Oswalt is reminiscing on the moment he popped the question.
During his recent appearance on the Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson podcast, the comedian and actor, 56, looked back on his proposal to his wife, actress Meredith Salenger, 55. The couple announced their engagement in July 2017, just over a year after Oswalt’s first wife, Michelle McNamara, unexpectedly died.
Salenger revealed the happy news in a post on Instagram on July 6, 2017, alongside photos of the proposal, which incorporated Oswalt's now 16-year-old daughter, Alice, whom he welcomed with McNamara in 2009. She wrote, "It's official. I'm the luckiest happiest girl in the universe!!!!💖 I love you @pattonoswalt I love you Alice Oswalt! #YesYesYes."
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Eight and a half years later, Oswalt reflected on his creative board game proposal that featured Qwirkle tiles that, when lined up, formed the phrase, "Will You Marry Me Meredith Salenger??"
"We're big into board games, and there's this board game called Qwirkle, which is like a Scrabble type game with colored and shaped tiles. It's very, very addictive," Oswalt told podcast host Jesse Tyler Ferguson. "And so what I did was — and we would constantly play it, and we're always playing cards and Scrabble and Backgammon — we went to lunch with my daughter, Alice."
Oswalt wanted Alice to be "in on the whole thing" because Salenger always told him "I'm marrying you guys," not just him. She really wanted Alice to "be cool with" her joining the family before getting engaged.
JC Olivera/WireImage
Meredith Salenger, Alice Oswalt, and Patton Oswalt in August 2024
"This is gonna be so cheesy," Oswalt said. "But there's a bag of all the tiles. So what I did was I took a bag of Qwirkle tiles, and I and I unzipped this so there's, a side, you know, like, the lining, and I unsewed the lining, filled it with all the Qwirkle tiles, it sounds like it's full of Qwirkle tiles, sewed it back up. And then I had custom tiles made saying, 'Will You Marry Me Meredith Salenger?"
The King of Queens star continued, "We went to lunch. I'm like, 'Oh, let's play some Quirkle. Let's play a game.' We were always playing at lunch. I go, 'Here, take your tiles off first. I'll take my tiles.' And then she was like, 'Something's wrong with this bag.' And then she took them out ... that's how I did it. And then my daughter had put a message in a bottle and we walked out. I go, 'Let's all walk out to the beach as a family.' And so we went out there, and then when she wasn't looking, we chucked the bottle in the water, so it rolled up, and then we opened that up."
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Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty
Patton Oswalt and Meredith Salenger in February 2025
After the engagement announcement, some people criticized the timing of the proposal, arguing it was too close to the death of McNamera. The couple spoke out against the negativity on social media in separate posts, with Oswalt referring to critics at the time as "bitter grub worms" with "their much-needed opinions." Meanwhile, Salenger was more sentimental.
“Everyone has been so lovely to us… ALL of Michelle’s siblings and friends and family… a few trolls have strong opinions,” Salenger wrote in July 2017. “But I think for Patton, having met and found love after over a year of intense therapy and openly grieving and dealing with his pain…I am grateful to be the one who helps him climb out of the depths of grief and find some joy again. And most of all… Alice is happy and feels loved.”
“I have waited 47 years to find true love,” she continued. “Creating our family unit while honoring the brilliant gift Michelle has given me will be my life’s goal and happiness. I am deeply in love with both Patton and Alice and very much looking forward to a beautiful happy life having adventures together.”
Oswalt and Salenger tied the knot in Los Angeles on Nov. 4, 2017.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
