Meghan Markle's Archetypes interview with American actress Mindy Kaling went live earlier today (September 6) where they discuss the 'stigmas' of Mindy's life as a single woman.
Mindy rose to fame for her role as Kelly Kapoor in the NBC sitcom The Office and she also starred and produced the Hulu series The Mindy Project from 2012 to 2017.
For her work on The Office, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series and five times for Outstanding Comedy Series.
Over the years, Mindy has had many rumoured relationships and here's everything you need to know including her romance with B.J. Novak and her secret son.
Mindy Kaling's secret son and life as a single mum
On September 3, 2020, The Office actress welcomed her second child, Spencer, into the world.
However, she kept the news of her pregnancy secret for quite some time.
She announced her new arrival in an interview in October 2020 on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Mindy told the talk show host: “I’m telling it for the first time now, it feels so strange. But I gave birth to a baby boy on September 3. This is news to a lot of people. It’s true.”
Mindy has a daughter called Katherine from a previous relationship.
Katherine was born in 2017, however, her father's name was not written on the birth certificate.
Mindy previously stated that she won’t be revealing her daughter's father any time soon but her former co-star B.J. Novak is her godfather.
The actress decided to keep the identity of her daughter's father a secret, telling The New York Times : "My feeling is that, until I speak to my daughter about that, I’m not going to talk to anyone else about it.”
Mindy also wrote about life as a single mum in her book Nothing Like I Imagined (Except For Sometimes) where she said: “Sometimes I am just so grateful to be an independent woman doing what I want, when I want, that I could cry with gratitude. I save a truly staggering amount of time not having to run my parenting decisions by another person.”
Her relationship with co-star B.J. Novak
Mindy met B.J. Novak on the set of The Office and she told Vulture in 2012: “We kind of fell in love through [writing for the show], and then dated on and off for a couple of years, and now we are just, like, best friends. Like, real best friends.
"It’s the kind of friendship you have when you are embedded with someone, that you can only get by putting in that insane amount of time with people.”
Many people have speculated over the years that the pair have continued to date despite their breakup in 2017 and Mindy has previously stated that she understands why the rumours circulate.
She told Good Housekeeping : “If I was on the outside looking at it, I would think the same thing. But the truth is that B.J. is so much more like a family than a platonic friend.
"He’s the godfather to my daughter, he comes over like once a week. Sometimes he’ll come over just to hang out with her.”
Meanwhile, B.J. has also stated that his friendship with Mindy has made some of their former partner's insecure.
He told Entertainment Weekly : “Whenever we date anyone else, I think there’s a period where the person is very skeptical of our friendship."
B.J. and Mindy's bond is so strong that their romantic partners often feel threatened. He added:
“Everyone seems to think you two might be a couple, and I don’t mean to get in the way. Are you sure you’re not dating? Are you sure you’re not going to end up dating? It’s such a common thing to have that platonic best friend that becomes a little weird when you start dating someone.”
Did Mindy Kaling date Benjamin Nugent?
Mindy is rumoured to have dated American writer Benjamin Nugent for around four years.
Benjamin penned the well known book American Nerd: The Story of My People and Mindy named a character on The Office after her ex-boyfriend.
Although there is not much known about their relationship, it was reported that the couple dated between 2008 and 2012.
Is Mindy Kaling currently dating anyone?
Despite her close relationship with B.J., Mindy is currently not dating anyone.
She told Marie Claire earlier this month that she has "not ruled out romance" and she hopes to find a partner soon.
She told the magazine: 'If you're a 42-year-old [single] woman with kids, it makes people sad… I'm like, "There is hope for us. There could be great stories about women, like me, finding love, finding happiness…"
She added: 'I can't imagine anyone besides me would write it, so I have to find the time to do that."
