David Mitchell's bumbling, nerdy Peep Show character Mark had absolutely no luck when it came to the ladies.
Because of this, many fans of the Channel 4 comedy expected him to be just as terrible at dating in real life.
David himself even admitted he believes he comes across as "a useless loner who eats his ready-made meals in the dark" and that sex was something that "happened by accident".
So people are often surprised to learn that David is married to TV presenter and poker player Victoria Coren Mitchell, and it was actually love at first sight.
The couple were first introduced to each other by fellow comedian David Baddiel, who played matchmaker when they both attended the same film premiere in 2007.
Victoria admitted: "He specifically said to me, 'There’s David Mitchell over there, I think you should probably marry him, I’ll get the ball rolling by introducing you.'"
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She added: "I thought that was ridiculous but, a couple of hours later, I thought I would probably marry him."
David wrote in his 2012 autobiography, Back Story: "I was pretty sure she was flirting, but was unwilling to believe my instincts as that seemed too good to be true."
The pair got along like a house on fire, but they didn't actually go on their first date until 2010, as Victoria explained her father had just died and the timing wasn't right.
David told The Guardian: "The problem is, I hate the sort of dating thing. I just, I just find it incredibly awkward… I don’t dislike being single enough to put myself through the pain."
But the reality was he was waiting things out before trying to win Victoria over again.
"I waited three years. Isn’t that weird? Aren’t I odd? I can’t explain it other than to say I couldn’t do anything else," David wrote.
"If only I’d known I just had to wait three years… I would gladly have suffered 10 times as much."
Two years later, the pair walked down the aisle and David admits the timeline was speedy - though he would have proposed even sooner if he hadn't thought it seemed "mad".
"I’m probably more fearful in my middle age," he told the Belfast Telegraph of his decision to get married swiftly.
"In terms of society breaking down and the world collapsing, it’s more frightening than when there’s just you."
David, 47, and Victoria, 49, welcomed their daughter Barbara Elizabeth June Mitchell in 2015, and they live together in Kilburn, North West London.
In his book, David admitted he was "hopelessly in love" with his wife.
"She’s not only too wonderful, she’s too right for me. She’s funny, bright, sexy, nervous and confident in ways that could have been meant for me," he gushed.
David also spoke of how proud he was to have married Victoria, who he describes as "the best human being that has ever been born," in a 2018 interview with The Times.
"I feel very lucky. If I had thought that [asking her to marry me] would not have seemed mad earlier, I would definitely have done it," he said.
"I am just incredibly proud that someone like Victoria wants to be with me. She has these amazing qualities, but fundamentally, we clicked. I fell in love with her."
Meanwhile, Victoria is equally stunned to have landed David.
"I mean, he's a hugely successful television comedian, he could have had a gorgeous 24-year-old skinny wife with a tiny nose and a string bikini, but he chose me! Me!" she told the Telegraph.
"I am filled with this bizarre mix of thinking David could have done a lot better than me and feeling we're so alike and complement each other so wonderfully that we are the ideal match and couldn't possibly be with anyone else."
Now being part of a family of three, Would I Lie to You star David says his priorities are totally different, though he still loves his work.
"There’s always something on your mind which is a different priority, a home you have to keep safe and supplied, and to make sure that our daughter is happy and seeing us a lot," he explained.
But he also confessed to Jonathan Ross that becoming a father had sent his stress levels through the roof.
"Unfortunately, there is nothing like having a tiny child whose safety you are responsible for to make you worry," he said.
"You really don't want the world to spin into the sun and explode. You thought you didn't want it before but you really don't want it now.
"That is the real downside of parenthood, and I suppose any form of love, is it makes you fear more... I would say love is not a stress reduction exercise, is it?
"What you want is a long period of bland contentment... I'm a family man. I've made bad choices and I am constantly worried."
The couple tend to keep their lives private, to the extent that Victoria is often asked how they have managed to do so.
"People sometimes say to us, 'You guys really get your privacy respected. Who’s your publicist?'," she told the Radio Times.
"And we go, 'Our what?' David and I have totally failed to become celebrities in the sense that now exists."
But they did agree to give viewers a small glimpse into their home life when they appeared on Celebrity Gogglebox in 2020 - and they were a huge hit.
Their hilarious and blunt commentary while watching dating show Five Guys a Week led to viewers declaring them "the next Giles and Mary," popular regulars on the programme.
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