Dick Van Dyke's Comments On His Massive Age Gap Marriage Are Packed With Subtle Shade

Multi-time Emmy-winning actor and comedian Dick Van Dyke celebrates his 100th birthday in December 2025, and you don't live that long without courting controversy every once in a while. That said, most of Van Dyke's controversial moments come down to his early TV shows tackling subject matter that was considered taboo at the time, but is downright tame by today's standards. Even the affair that ended the actor's first marriage was about 50 years ago. These days, Van Dyke is held in such high regard that even his massive age gap with second wife Arlene Silver barely even registered as scandalous. Nevertheless, one of Van Dyke's rare comments defending the marriage is packed with some subtle shade, if you ask us.

The truth about Van Dyke's wife is that she is 46 years his junior. The pair wed in 2012, when Van Dyke was 86 and Silver was 40. However, during a 2024 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Van Dyke remarked that when he first laid eyes on Silver, he had "no idea she was half my age." The reason this makes us raise a bit of an eyebrow is because, at first brush, it seems like he's saying Silver herself looked old for her age. Of course, we shouldn't forget that Van Dyke is a comedy legend, so it's also entirely possible (if not probable) that he was just cracking wise. Nevertheless, his love for Silver seems very sincere. "We were meant to be," he said.

Dick Van Dyke clarified in his and wife Arlene Silver's interview with Entertainment Tonight that their romance didn't begin right away. Rather, the two started as friends, and Van Dyke employed Silver's services as a professional makeup artist. "We were friends for so long that when I told people that I know, they were happy about [our relationship], and I was scared," Silver recalled, adding, "I mean, the facts, our age difference. However, it's so irrelevant. I think when you see us together, it's like you don't think about it."

Later, in the spring of 2025, Van Dyke and Silver sat down for another interview with People, in which they went into greater detail regarding how they make their age-gap marriage work. During their chat with the publication, the celebrity couple made it clear that their bond was stronger than ever, despite all the naysayers. "Everybody said it wouldn't work," Van Dyke said. "I mean, it's, like, eerie how well it works," Silver added. She then quipped that plenty of same-age relationships don't last, implying there's more to it than that.

To that end, Silver further explained that she and her famous husband are both homebodies, which no doubt makes things easier in the compatibility department. "We just love being home. We love Malibu, and it's our favorite place, our house especially. So this is like our, you're at our house," she said.