Chris Carmack Says Life With Wife ‘Gets Better Every Year’ — Who the Grey’s Anatomy Star Is Married to in Real Life
Chris Carmack is known for making fans swoon as the handsome Doctor Atticus “Link” Lincoln on Grey’s Anatomy, but off-screen, he only has eyes for his wife. Who is Chris Carmack’s wife? Keep reading to find out.
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Grey’s Anatomy is ABC’s hit medical drama, based in Seattle, Washington, that focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents and attendings at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital (previously known as Seattle Grace Hospital and Seattle Grace Mercy West). The series, which first premiered in 2005 and is currently on its 20th season, is ABC’s longest scripted primetime series. Carmack joined the cast in Season 15 as Doctor Atticus “Link” Lincoln, Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital’s Head of Orthopedic Surgery. Self-dubbed the “Ortho God,” Link quickly won fans over with his humor, his backstory of overcoming bone cancer as a child, and his history with Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington).
Prior to landing Grey’s Anatomy, Carmack was most known for starring on the hit early 2000s teen show The O.C. as Luke Ward, although he only appeared in the first season. He also had a six-season long run as Will Lexington on Nashville.
Most recently, he made his Hallmark debut with the 2023 Christmas movie Time for Her to Come Home for Christmas, which premiered on the network on Nov. 30. In it, he co-stars alongside Shenae Grimes-Beech, who also got her start in an early 2000s teen show: 90210, the reboot. The movie follows Carly (Grimes-Beech) as she heads to a quaint town to lead the church choir during Christmastime. As she gets to know an Army veteran (Carmack) and the townspeople, she stumbles across clues that suggest she may have been brought there for a life-changing reason.
In real life, Carmack has a love story worthy of its own Hallmark movie. Keep reading to learn more about Chris Carmack’s wife and her relationship with the actor.
Who is Chris Carmack’s wife?
Who is Chris Carmack’s wife? The hunky TV doctor is married to musician Erin Slaver. According to her website, Slaver began playing the violin when she was 3 years old and studied music throughout college. She graduated with a degree in classical music from Stony Brook University in 2010, where she was also the concertmaster for three years with the Stony Brook University Orchestra. She went on to complete a year of graduate school (also in classical violin performance) but took a leave of absence to move to Tennessee.
From there, Slaver honed her career has an artist whose music spans several genres, including classical, bluegrass, jazz and baroque styles. As a violinist and fiddler, she has played venues such as Madison Square Garden, opening for super groups like the Eagles, Chicago, the Doobie Brothers, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Jewel and more. In addition to her work as an instrumentalist, Slaver is also a vocalist, songwriter, and actress.
Carmack and Slaver met through the show Nashville. At the time, Slaver was playing violin in a band with Sam Palladio, Carmack’s Nashville co-star who played one of Juliette Barnes’ (Hayden Panettiere) backup singers. During a night out, Carmack was impressed by her performance and they became friends. A year later, they started dating, according to People. Carmack told the outlet that “he always wanted to sing and play” music. Following his time on the show, Carmack began releasing country music.
The couple’s passion for music is a big part of their relationship. In fact, when Carmack proposed to Slaver in 2016, he even incorporated music. “I proposed on a rooftop at a hotel in New York,” he told People. “I hired a little gypsy jazz quartet to play some of our favorite songs.”
The pair welcomed the first child together, a daughter named Kai, in September 2016. “In my life, I never imagined I’d experience something so beautiful. I couldn’t have made it through naturally without @britteanderson and @realcarmack by my side. We are completely in love with our 2 day old, sweet baby girl…,” Slaver captioned a photo of the newborn lying on her chest.
Two years later, Carmack and Slaver tied the knot on Oct. 19, 2018. Palladio was even present, sharing a carousel of photos of the newlyweds on Instagram, captioned: “2 of my favourite people in the world got married this weekend and it was the best weekend ever. Love you @realcarmack and @erinslaver.”
The Carmack-Slaver family grew when they welcomed a second daughter, Cielle Estee, in May 2022. “We had a baby! Cielle Estee Carmack, (means the sky and the stars) and that’s exactly what she is to us! Born 2 weeks early on May 10th, she was the best surprise we could’ve imagined!” they wrote on Instagram.
The couple are not shy when it comes to sharing their life together on social media. They frequently share funny videos about parenting and married life on Instagram, as well as sweet tributes to one another. On their three-year anniversary in 2021, Carmack posted a black-and-white photo from their wedding and penned a loving message to his wife in the caption. “I can’t believe it’s been 3 years! Thank you for filling my life with love that gets better every year. You are a wonderful mother and partner. I’m a lucky guy! And guess what?… she’s pretty mean on the fiddle too!… 😘😘😘,” he wrote.
Carmack and Slaver are also more than just husband and wife, they are bandmates as well. In 2020, they formed the singing duo Life On Eris and released an EP titled Stonewall. “We just wanted to give people something that was a real look into a marriage or a relationship,” Slaver told Entertainment Tonight of one of the songs. “Something they can relate to.” Although Life On Eris hasn’t released new music since the EP, the pair still post silly videos on Instagram of themselves singing around the house.
For more on Grey’s Anatomy, check out this gallery of the cast member’s real-life partners.
