"I just felt so flustered": Scarlett Johansson recalls her first date with now-husband Colin Jost and how she panicked

Scarlett Johansson is one of Hollywood's biggest stars, known for playing Black Widow in the Marvel films and starring in the 2025 blockbuster Jurassic World Rebirth. On December 1, 2025 while co-hosting NBC's Today with Jenna & Friends, she talked openly about her first date with now-husband Colin Jost.

The date happened in 2017, shortly after her divorce from Romain Dauriac and while she was raising her then-3-year-old daughter alone. After coming back from the date, Scarlett recalled:

“I got home to relieve my babysitter and she was like, ‘Why are you home?’ and I was like, ‘I don’t know!’ I just felt so flustered.”

Scarlett and Colin Jost met at an Italian restaurant in New York's East Village. Everything was going well until Jost suggested drinks with friends afterwards. Johansson said:

“Nobody had ever asked me out before. I was a serial monogamist and I never got the sort of traditional like, ‘Hey would you like to have dinner sometime?’”

She added:

“He (Colin) actually asked me out on a date. We went to an Italian restaurant in the East Village. It was a lovely date. We had dinner.

Afterwards, he was like, ‘I’m meeting friends, let’s go grab a drink,’ and I hadn’t dated basically ever so I was just like, ‘I have to go now.’ I need to leave.’”

Later, when she told Jost what happened, he admitted:

"I totally thought that was it. You were acting so weird.’ She replied, "I panicked. I don’t know."

The pair had first crossed paths over a decade earlier in 2006 when Johansson hosted Saturday Night Live during Jost's early days as a writer on the show. Jost later wrote in his 2020 memoir A Very Punchable Face, she seemed:

"beautiful, smart, sweet and intimidatingly sophisticated."

How Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost’s fairy-tale love story started

Johansson and Jost's relationship started with that fumbled 2017 date, but it quickly recovered thanks to open communication. After she confessed to having nerves, Jost saw it as a sign of her honesty, not disinterest. 

They became exclusive soon after and went public at the American Museum of Natural History gala in November 2017. Johansson later told Parade magazine that the shift from friends to partners felt natural. 

"It’s so funny to have a long-term shared experience with someone and then the relationship changes," she said.

She later explained her lack of dating experience stemmed from jumping straight into serious relationships at a young age. As a mom to Rose, now 11, she prioritized stability post-divorce. Jost, 43, brought steadiness with his humor. He'd long admired her from the SNL set but waited for the right moment to ask her out.

Their bond grew steadily. In December 2017, Johansson hosted SNL again and shared a kiss with Jost in the credits. They attended events like the 2018 Met Gala together, blending her film premieres with his comedy world. Engagement came in May 2019 after two years of dating. Johansson said on the Goop podcast:

"I never realized, 'Oh, it's really important for me, I need to be with a compassionate person'.

It worked with Colin and I because I was finally able to step back and respect myself enough to know what those fundamental wants and needs were." 

The couple married in an intimate October 2020 ceremony on a Massachusetts cliff amid COVID precautions, announced via Meals on Wheels' Instagram—Jost volunteers there.

In August 2021, they welcomed their son Cosmo, now 4, joining Rose in their blended family. Johansson has praised Jost's role as a stepdad. She told Access Hollywood -

"He's great with her."

They live low-key in New York, with family hikes and date nights. Jost surprised her onstage at SNL's 50th season finale in May 2025 with roses, a nod to their start. Despite Hollywood pressures, their patience has kept things solid, eight years in, no signs of slowing down.

Watch Scarlett Johansson tell the full story on Today with Jenna & Friends, streaming now on NBC.com and Peacock.

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