Law & Order: SVU star Ice-T can’t believe Benson and Stabler ‘haven’t hooked up yet’

As Law & Order: SVU celebrates its record-breaking 25th season on primetime television, there is one thing Ice-T can’t believe hasn’t happened yet. 

The rapper-turned-actor, who has played the role of Sgt. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola on the NBC series since its second season, has been busting perps and solving crime alongside Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) since 2000. He’s also secretly (or not-so-secretly, a quarter of a century later) been rooting for Benson and her former partner Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) to take their relationship to the next level. 

“Y'all haven't hooked up yet at all?” an exasperated Ice-T asks Hargitay during EW’s digital cover shoot. “Close, right? Almost a kiss?”

Hargitay laughs, cracking a joke to deflect.

"No, just two times in season 4!" she says, teasing. "No. We have not hooked up."

Ice-T peppers Hargitay with questions about whether there has ever been even a kiss between Benson and Stabler, Hargitay concedes that there was "a close call."

Just last season, Stabler and Benson shared a quiet moment in her kitchen at the end of episode 12 after Benson’s son, Noah, had gone to bed. Sporting a black eye from a recent attack, Benson pretends to vehemently search her kitchen cupboards for sugar in an attempt to avoid having to look at Stabler, who’s preoccupied with asking her why she didn’t call him for help after she was injured and who won’t stop telling her how much he cares about her. 

By the time Benson finally turns around, Stabler’s got her backed up to the refrigerator, and she nearly leans in. But, she stops herself, instead telling her former partner "I want to, but I can’t."

To this day — and spoken like a true fan of the pair — Ice-T doesn’t understand why they stopped short. 

"Did you kiss?" he asks Hargitay again. "Almost?"

"Yes. Almost," she says, humoring him. 

"Okay. But you didn’t? Season 26!" Ice-T declares as Hargitay rolls her eyes with a smile, calling him a "big fan."

And while that might be true, Ice-T insists nobody wants Benson and Stabler to get together more than the people on the internet. 

"[On] my social media, people think this show's real. They’re like, 'Yo, tell Chris to come back.' I'm like, 'I'm not Dick Wolf. I can't tell Chris just to come... that's not how it works!'" he says. "But yeah, I'm waiting. Fans are waiting. My fans are like, 'Tell Mariska to go over to OC and give Chris some lovin'.'"

For more Law & Order: SVU, read EW's latest cover story.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content:

• Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T reflect on 25 years of Law & Order: SVU
• Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay reveals she was raped in her 30s: 'I couldn't process it'
• Mariska Hargitay teases Law & Order: SVU fans: 'Benson and Stabler love each other deeply'