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The verdict is in: Christopher Meloni knows what the fans want.
The “Law & Order: Organized Crime” star, 64, revealed that he has been trying to get his character, Detective Elliot Stabler, to hook up with his former partner, Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay).
Viewers have wanted these two to get together since they first starred side by side on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” in 1999. Although Stabler left the squad in 2011, he came back to the Big Apple to battle organized crime in 2021.
Of course, in the Dick Wolf universe, the audience has seen quite a few crossover episodes since Meloni’s return.
On Monday, a fan wrote on X, “@Chris_Meloni for f–k sake, kiss her already!” to which the star responded, “I’m f–king trying.”
The pair has stayed loyal friends over the decades, and, at one point, Benson and Stabler even came close to coupling up.
For Hargitay’s part, she’s enjoying the will-they-won’t-they narrative.
“Maybe on the last episode,” the 61-year-old said while on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast in June. “I think that’s when they should be together… if it’s right. We’ll see when we get there.”
Hargitay believes the Manhattan officers are “soulmates, in a way.”
The “My Mom Jayne” director added, “But let’s see where the story takes us, you know?”
In Season 24 of “SVU,” Benson and Stabler almost shared a kiss, but she pulled away.
“We were attempting something,” Meloni said about the moment in April during a TVLine Spotlight conversation. “I don’t think it worked. But I’m not going to tell you why it didn’t work, because you all have your opinion.”
He added, “I know what transpired.”
“I don’t go, ‘That’s what’s going to go on TV. That’s what we’re going to air.’ We don’t have that power. We do the best we can to be honest with the scenes we’re given,” Meloni noted.
He also tries to “make it honest, not make it bait.”
“If we do bait, at least for me, I always do it with a wink. I think it’s good-natured, but maybe you guys are over that, and that’s valid,” the actor added.
“But you give us too much credit for the power that we might have,” he said, “will-they-won’t-they and all that stuff.”
Harigtay had previously dished on what went down.
“To be honest with you, Chris and I thought it should go one way and the powers that be didn’t, so it got changed at the last minute, that near kiss,” she revealed to Variety in May 2024. “Obviously Alexandra Bellusci Dick [Wolf] gets final say. It’s his show and he didn’t want that.”
During an EW interview last year, “SVU” star Ice-T asked Hargitay: “Y’all haven’t hooked up yet at all? Close, right? Almost a kiss?”
She teased back, “No, just two times in Season 4!… No. We have not hooked up.”
Off-air, Hargitay and Meloni are thick as thieves.
“We are just connected,” she said on “Call Her Daddy.” “We are so close. It’s like we’ve been through the battle together. We know each other so well. We love each other so much. We respect each other so much.”
“We are so comfortable with each other, we deeply trust each other … Whatever he needs, I will always be there for him, and that’s mutual,” Hargitay gushed. “And we have grown together, we’ve known each other 27 years.”
The actors also have close bonds with one another’s kids.
The “Happy” actor has been married to production designer Sherman Meloni since 1995, and the pair have kids Sophia, 24, and Dante, 21. Hargitay is Sophia’s godmother.
The NBC star tied the knot with Peter Hermann in 2004. They are parents to August, 18, Amaya, 14, and Andrew, 13. The couple adopted their two youngest children in 2011.
In 2023, Sophia shared a touching post for her famous godmother’s birthday on Instagram. “Waving my wand to summon all things sparkly, shiny, beautiful and grand for my fairy godmamma today,” she wrote.
“Law & Order: Organized Crime” recently wrapped its fifth season on Peacock, while “SVU” will be back on NBC for Season 27 on Sept. 25.