Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay have played detective partners, Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson, respectively, on the series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
During an interview with TVLine Spotlight, the Hollywood actor was asked why his character never romantically linked with Benson.
Recalling episode 12 of season 24, Blood Out, when the scene was scripted that the co-stars would share the PDA moment, he said, “I’ll go into the kitchen thing. Guys, we were attempting something. I don’t think it worked, but I’m not going to tell you why it didn’t work. Have your opinion.”
However, at the very last moment the producer, Dick Wolf, changed the scene; instead of having Stabler kiss Benson, she pulled away, and said, “Elliot, I want to. But I can’t.”
Before concluding, Meloni shared, “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.”
For those unversed, fans reportedly named the pair as ‘Bensler’ and they observed a potential romantic connection between them.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit was aired from 1999 to 2022.
