“I don’t think I’ll be marrying him any time soon, but I am kind of like his second wife,” the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit actress told PEOPLE of her costar

Mariska Hargitay has a husband at home and on set!

While speaking to PEOPLE on Monday at the Law & Order season premiere red carpet in New York City ahead of the show’s 24th season, the actress shared her feelings about being dubbed costar Christopher Meloni’s “second wife” on Wikipedia.

Last week, Hargitay — who is not actually married to Meloni — was accidentally (or, more likely, purposely thanks to an enthusiastic fan) listed on Meloni’s Wikipedia page as his wife alongside his real wife of 27 years, Sherman Williams.

“That is awesome,” she said. “It’s kind of right in a way, isn’t it?”

Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni speak on stage during the 74th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater on September 12, 2022

CHRIS HASTON/NBC VIA GETTY

“I mean, I don’t think I’ll be marrying him any time soon, but I am kind of like his second wife,” she explained. “Wife, therapist, bestie, sister, mother.”

Meloni similarly acknowledged “the fandom goes nuts” over his and Hargitay’s onscreen chemistry, before wryly deadpanning: “I think the uber fans literally want our spouses to go away.”

Hargitay, 58, and Meloni, 61, are both married in real life — just not to each other. In July, Meloni celebrated 27 years of marriage with Williams; Hargitay met husband Peter Hermann on the set of Law & Order: SVU, and they’ve been married for 18 years.

Meloni and Hargitay began working together on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 1999. Although Meloni left the series in 2011, he later returned to the franchise last year with his spin-off series Law & Order: Organized Crime.

Last week, the costars were in attendance for the 74th annual Emmy Awards in Los Angeles.

Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay arrive to the 74th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater on September 12, 2022.

Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay. MARK VON HOLDEN/NBC VIA GETTY

While presenting an award for lead actor in a comedy series, the two entertained the audience with a sketch in which they almost leaned in to kiss but quickly pulled away before announcing the category’s nominees, teasing viewers who have long desired to see a romance blossom between their two onscreen characters.

Hargitay told PEOPLE the Emmys bit came together so “quick” and was “effortless” given her close bond with Meloni.

“It was so much fun to just create together with shorthand,” she said.

She added that the 2022 Emmys “felt like a party with a bunch of people I hadn’t seen in a long time, but they’re all sort of my favorites.”

“And I get to go with my best friend,” she said, referring to Meloni.

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Meloni and Hargitay also spoke about what it’s been like to work so closely together during PEOPLE and EW‘s Red Carpet Live preshow, co-hosted by Janine Rubenstein and Jeremy Parsons.

“It’s effortless, and it’s weird, and I always look at it as some sort of gift,” Hargitay said at the time. “So much of it has to do with our shared sense of humor, shared perspective, our now history.”