Kate Flannery met her boyfriend on ‘The Office’ set with sweet St. Patrick’s Day connection

The Office star Kate Flannery brought St. Patrick’s Day cheer to The Jennifer Hudson Show… along with a little peek inside her love life.

During her visit to the talk show Monday, the actress plied host Jennifer Hudson with homemade soda bread and potato balls while revealing her romantic connection to the workplace sitcom that made her famous.

“I’m so lucky because when I got The Office I was 40, but I also got to meet my boyfriend on the show,” Flannery explained. “He’s a photographer. He was a photographer on The Office… and now he’s your photographer.”

The view then flipped to reveal Flannery’s partner, Chris Haston, who had a camera pointed in their direction.

“He’s right here! Chris is taking our picture,” Hudson cheered, offering Haston a piece of the soda bread. “You want some, Chris?”

“He knows everybody,” Flannery said, listing his credits, which include Seinfeld, The Golden Girls, and The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. The Irish American actress then explained how her love story with Haston links back to St. Paddy’s Day.

“We didn’t start dating right away,” she said. “I met him and we didn’t start dating until the end of season 2.”

She continued, “He came to my comedy show and he asked me out afterwards and he literally said, ‘I’m gonna call you.’ He called me on St Patrick’s Day to ask me out — but he was smart enough to know that I already had plans that night.”

While the holiday will always have special significance in their relationship, Flannery shared that they ultimately set their first date for another night. She also cited a smooth line that Haston dropped during their call: “He said, ‘You and I should be dating.’ It’s so sweet.”

Flannery and Haston have been together since 2006, and can even be seen dancing together during Dwight and Angela’s wedding in the Office series finale. Flannery, who spent nine seasons playing boozy supplier relations rep Meredith Palmer, previously joked that she and Haston are like a real-life Jim and Pam, since they went from working together to dating.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

“I think being older is a gift and you know, I’m a late bloomer in love too,” she told Closer Weekly in 2020, referencing the fact that her big break came a bit later in life. “We didn’t start dating until I was 41… I think both of us have a lot more realistic expectations with each other and a little more patience and a much better sense of humor. There’s less drama.”