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Rob McElhenney has done pretty well for himself thanks to his work on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and as a native of the city where the show is set, he’s a diehard fan of the Eagles. That meant he was happy to drop $100,000 on a vintage jacket associated with an iconic photo of Princess Diana—but he probably could’ve gotten it for a bit less if it wasn’t for his wife.
As you may or may not know, Rob McElhenney (who portrays Mac on It’s Always Sunny) has been married to Kaitlin Olson (who plays Dee) since 2008 (they’re not the only co-stars who’ve tied the knot, as Charlie Day is ironically married to the character known as “The Waitress”).
The actor used a solid chunk of the money he’s amassed on the show to purchase Wrexham AFC with Ryan Reynolds, and has said the purchase of that club was partially inspired by childhood memories of watching a different kind of football: specifically the Philadelphia Eagles.
Earlier this month, the Eagles’ Autism Foundation held a charity audition featuring a number of items—including a recreation of the jacket Princess Diana made famous by rocking it while dropping Harry off at school in 1991.
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The version that was up for grabs was created by Mitchell and Ness and signed by Kylie Kelce (Jason Kelce’s wife), and McElhenney decided he needed to have it. However, Olson apparently had the same idea—and neither of them decided to let the other person know before the bidding opened.
During an appearance on The New Heights podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce, he discussed the bidding war he found himself involved in.
Here’s what he had to say:
“I really love the jacket, and I thought it was beautiful and I thought, ‘Hey, this is a great cause, a great jacket. Put me in for $10,000.
Then, I think within a couple of days, someone came in for $20,000…I put in for $25K, and I thought, ‘OK, that’s a good donation, that’ll get it done. ‘
Somebody outbid me for $30K. Now I’m like, ‘Now it’s getting serious. Now it feels personal.’ I put $35K in. Somebody goes in immediately and puts in for $50K. “
At that point, McElhenney started to wonder if Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie had gotten involved to drive up the price but was determined to keep going until he received a text that read “I’ve been the one bidding against you, bozo,” from none other than…his wife, who joined the podcast to elaborate:
“This moron. We live in the same house. This is a foundation that’s important to both of us. The jacket looks great on your wife. It’s clearly for women. I want it.
He mentions nothing about it. I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’ Moron.”
The story has a happy ending, as they toyed with the idea of placing an $87,000 bid in honor of Travis (which McElhenney nixed due to Kelce’s affiliation with the Chiefs) before ultimately opting to go with a nice, round $100,000 to benefit the worthy cause.