Everything We Know About Kate and Toby's Divorce on 'This Is Us'

They’re not endgame. This Is Us fans have followed Kate Pearson (Chrissy Metz) and Toby Damon’s (Chris Sullivan) relationship since the show’s beginning, but before season 6 ends, their marital issues will lead to divorce.

Viewers long suspected that Kate and Toby would not get their happily ever after due to clues from the NBC drama’s famous flash-forwards. However, the final nail in the coffin was the season 5 finale revelation that Kate was preparing to marry her coworker Phillip (Chris Geere).

“We hinted at, many times in the deeper future, that something was not normal between Kate and Toby, and here we are,” creator Dan Fogelman told reporters in May 2021. “Kate’s second wedding is a plot point we’ve had coming for some time, so we had Chris Geere meet with Chrissy Metz earlier in the season under severe COVID testing protocols so we could put them together. We’re big fans of his.”

The showrunner teased at the time that the final season would include “some really meaty stuff” for Metz and Sullivan.

“I think, like everything on our show, we’ll be able to find something difficult and find something beautiful inside,” he said. “The honest truth is really loving, great marriages don’t always survive. And marriage is not for everybody.”

Metz, for her part, divulged how she felt when she discovered the ending of Kate’s story.

“[I was content] because I think that she will be happy,” the actress exclusively told Us Weekly in August 2021. “I think there’ll be contentment. I think they’ll feel that bittersweet feeling that I think a lot of the episodes leave you with. I think there will feel like a sense of closure and some bittersweet memories.”

While Metz was on board with the story line, she noted that it initially felt like a betrayal for Kate to be with Phillip instead of Toby. “It does feel like she’s doing something she shouldn’t do,” she confessed. “Who is this guy? Like, I really like you and you’re really nice and you’re English and whatever and charming, but, like, this feels wrong!”

As for her onset dynamic with Sullivan amid the breakdown of their characters’ marriage, the singer told Us that her costar has always made “life better and work better.”

“It is weird!” she added. “I’m, like, [telling him], ‘I don’t really like [Phillip]! It’s just written in the script.”

Scroll through the gallery below for everything we know so far about Kate and Toby’s divorce: