Annie Murphy made a name for herself as Alexis Rose in Schitt’s Creek, for which she was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Supporting Role at the 2021 Golden Globes. Viewers watched Murphy, as Alexis, date the hippie Mutt (Tim Rozon) and the sweet veterinarian, Ted (Dustin Milligan).
In real life, though, Murphy, 36, has been married to her husband, Menno Versteeg, since August 2011. Murphy and Versteeg keep their relationship private, although the actress does like to post the occasional silly photo with her husband.
“Happy belated anniversary, @mennovers,” she wrote in 2018. “I looked it up, and 7 years isn’t actually copper and wool – it’s two muscly German tourists NAMED Koper and Wöl dressed in identical outfits taking pictures on a ferry. You’re welcome. ❤️”
Murphy won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a comedy series during Schitt’s Creek‘s history-making sweep in 2020, and Versteeg was clearly overjoyed for his wife. He posted to congratulate her on her first nomination.
“Congratulations on your very first Emmy nom,” he wrote. ” ❤️🦋❤️🦋❤️🦋❤️🦋❤️🦋😘you truly truly deserve it and I couldn’t be more proud of you. (p.s @instadanjlevy is gonna be SO STOKED when you tell him you are wearing Value Village to the red carpet).”
The couple seems to share the same goofy sense of humor. In 2018, he shared this comedic photo of him and Murphy with the caption, “Took some new engagement pics by the tree.”
“You lose in your category to Catherine O’Hara every year at the CSA’s, but also you win the whole damn thing as far as I’m concerned. #wineinawaterbottle So proud of you Annie 😘😘🕺🏼🕺🏼🕺🏼🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻😘😘😘,” he joked at the Canadian Screen Awards three years ago.
To declare that your wife beat out everyone in the room, including Catherine O’Hara, in your opinion is the right move to make as a loving spouse. Clearly Versteeg is a supportive husband, but he’s had a successful career, too. Here are the details about him.
Like Murphy, he is Canadian
Versteeg was born in Ottowa, Ontario, his wife’s hometown, in January 1980.
He’s a professional musician
His former band, Hollerado, released their first album in 2009 under their label, Royal Mountain Records, of which Versteeg is a co-founder. Hollerado officially called it quits in 2019, but as The Globe and Mail wrote, it’s become “Toronto’s scrappiest and most successful labels and music-management companies.”
Their first album, Record in a Bag, got attention when the 2010 music video for one of its songs, “Americanarama,” was a spoof on the clothing brand American Apparel.
After their decade run, Versteeg told the The Globe and Mail that it was time for him and his band members to move on: “Life’s too short,” he said. “We all want to do different things and experience something new.”
In 2018, Versteeg joined the group Anyway Gang; they released their eponymous debut album November 2019 through Royal Mountain Records. He also released a solo debut album, Reno Tapes, under the name Mav Karlo.
He and Murphy have collaborated musically
As Murphy and Versteeg told ELLE in 2020, they both worked on the iconic Schitt’s Creek original song, “A Little Bit Alexis.” Versteeg and the couple’s friend wrote the melody for the song, and Murphy wrote the lyrics.
“Once I got the green light, of course I was like, ‘Oh, fuck. Okay, resources, resources,'” she told ELLE. “So I found my two dear musician people, and told them, ‘Well, I just got myself into a predicament.'”
Versteeg said, “I’d been in some chain fashion store and ‘Work Bitch’ by Britney Spears was on. The second [Annie] told me [about ‘A Little Bit Alexis,’] I knew I wanted to rip off the feel of that song. We set out to make a song you want to do spin class to.”
Versteeg also revealed to ELLE that “for the first half of Hollerado’s career, Annie was a struggling actress” and that during that time she went on tour with the band, sometimes sang onstage, and wrote the lyrics to one of their popular songs “Good Day At The Races.”
He takes hardships in stride
As Hollerado’s Twitter account documented, Murphy and Versteeg’s apartment in Toronto burned down in 2013.
No one was hurt, the band later revealed.
“I was so nervous calling the insurance company,” Versteeg told HuffPost then. “I know I’ve been paying it, but I don’t know what that means. I think it’s really going to be okay. I’m not worried at all. It’s just stuff.”
He’s a mental health advocate
In a 2019 profile in The Globe and Mail, said he’d wanted to seek mental healthcare in the past, but he couldn’t afford it. Once Murphy landed with Schitt’s Creek, Versteeg started seeing a therapist.
“I’m like, ‘This stuff actually works,'” he told the publication. “It’s not witchcraft! I would’ve loved this when I was 22.”
Once Versteeg saw how much therapy had done for him, he wanted to help other musicians get the mental health help they need. With that in mind, he created a mental-health fund for all the artists represented by Royal Mountain Records.
“You go to the doctor to get a checkup for your body,” he said. “Why getting a checkup for your head isn’t seen as just as important blows my mind.”
Murphy regularly comments and likes her husband’s Instagrams
While the couple is able to keep their relationship mostly under the wraps, Murphy has liked almost all her husband’s Instagrams and regularly leaves comments. In May 2022, she wrote, “Buncha friggin goobers. 😍,” when he shared a photo with his band to celebrate their new album release.
He and Murphy are big Toronto fans
In 2016, the couple gave a joint interview to Ion Magazine about their favorite spots in the city. Then, they lived in The Junction in Toronto.Their favorite things to do in the city included, “Going on giant walks across town, going to the island in the summer, finding new restaurants, going to baseball games, convincing people to take me sailing, sitting in parks, going to comedy shows. GUYS THIS CITY IS GREAT,” Murphy said.
Versteeg added, when asked what their favorite greasy spoon breakfast was, that he takes one for the team and goes to The Purple Onion for Murphy. “We go there all the time because its’s close to our place and Annie likes it. I actually don’t really like it,” he quipped.
Of what he loves about the city itself, Versteeg said, “Our neighborhood is just far enough from downtown to have a bit of a real community feel. It’s nice knowing the people at my local coffeeshop (Full Stop Coffee is the best!) and bar (that would be Dre and Dahlia and all the regulars at Delrays Grill).”
And Murphy said, “This city is full of passionate, creative people, and because of that there’s always something to see and do and eat and drink. I love my neighborhood because I can walk to the book store, the grocery store, the coffee shop, and the bar in two tiny minutes.”
Hilary Weaver is a freelance writer based in New York who writes about politics, queer issues, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, and every woman the Queen has ever made a dame. I saw Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again three times in theaters, and that’s pretty much all you need to know.