Twenty-six years is a long time to wait for pretty much anything, and that’s especially true when it comes to television fans who’ll go into the 2025 TV schedule longing for two of their favorite characters to finally (FINALLY!!?) hook up already. This is what millions of Bensler shippers have been going through since they first saw the palpable will-they-won’t-they-when-will-they sexual tension between Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson and Christopher Meloni’s Elliot Stabler on Law & Order: SVU way back in 1999. Co-star Ice-T has seen the on-screen relationship since Season 2, and while he’s on board the Bensler ship with the rest of us, he also has some tough love for fans who ask for it.
What Did Law & Order: SVU’s Ice-T Say About A Benson/Stabler Romance And The Couple's Fans?
When Law & Order: SVU viewers found out that Olivia Benson and her former partner/friend Elliot Stabler were going to be reunited in 2021, many of us were in a tizzy over the potential romantic hopes that had been renewed. Alas, with the exception of an emotional and notable near-kiss a couple of years ago (which really annoyed fans), we’ve gotten bupkis (a.k.a. the wrong kind of “kiss”). Now, long-time SVU star Ice-T has shared his view on the possible romance with Entertainment Weekly, and said:
I don't know, that's just the show. I don't know what's going on. But I've been telling them to get a room for a long time.
Man, there are so many people who are rooting for him to succeed here, right? If there are two things that SVU (which will enter another record-breaking set of episodes this fall when Season 27 hits NBC) fans know, it’s that not only are the powers that be not ready to have Benson and Stabler romance one another actively, but Hargitay and Meloni are also really good buddies off screen, who’ve always acknowledged their “good chemistry” on camera and off.
With that, you might think this whole “Olivia and Elliot sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g” situation should be a slam dunk, particularly now that we KNOW they’re both into each other. Well, Ice-T noted that while there are additional positives that could help things along, there are also some potential reasons to keep the duo apart in all horizontal ways:
Now, Mariska is a producer on the show, and she's also directed a few. She's not a writer, but she has a lot of power, so she's kind of steering the boat. I don't know if [producer] Dick Wolf wants them to ever hook up. Maybe he just wants to keep dangling that carrot. Keep the seasons coming in.
Yes, yes…Obviously one of the reasons that people keep watching is not just because of all those ripped-from-the-headlines stories, but the desperate hope that our romantic notions of a world where Benson and Stabler end their long days at work and come home to each other will be fulfilled at some point. Are they just stringing us along for the ratings?!?!
As we all ponder that possibility, the hit-making rapper also had some blunt words for every fan who’s dying to see some Bensler action:
News blast, it's not real! There are writers behind it. People always say, 'You should have done this. You should have done this.' I'm like, I can only say the words they put in my mouth. I can say it my way, I can give it my flavor. But we're going for a ride along with them.
Basically, if those in charge are simply uninterested in having Olivia and Elliot give in to their passion, it’s not gonna happen. While I can see that reality check helping some shippers calm way down, after nearly 30 years, I don’t think it’s going to completely stop most of us from hoping the hard-working detectives go there ASAP.
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