Sarah Ziolkowska: the librarian who was married to Nathan Fielder
Sarah Ziolkowska is a Canadian children’s librarian and reading specialist. She was married to comedian Nathan Fielder, the creator of Nathan for You and The Rehearsal, from 2011 until their divorce in 2014. They met at a comedy show in Halifax.
She has never given an interview, has no confirmed social media, and has said nothing publicly about the marriage in more than a decade. Almost everything written about her online comes from a handful of Fielder’s own remarks, and a good deal of it is wrong.
Quick facts
| Name | Sarah Ziolkowska |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Grew up in | Toronto, Ontario |
| Undergraduate | University of Toronto, applied science |
| Postgraduate | Dalhousie University, Halifax, Master of Library and Information Science |
| Profession | Children’s librarian, reading specialist |
| Married | Nathan Fielder, 2011 |
| Divorced | 2014 |
| Children | None |
| Public profile | None. No interviews, no confirmed social media accounts. |
Early life and education
Ziolkowska grew up in Toronto. She studied applied science at the University of Toronto, then moved east to Halifax for postgraduate work.
At Dalhousie University she completed a Master of Library and Information Science, the standard professional qualification for librarians in Canada. During and after that programme she:
- Interned at the W.K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library
- Worked as a teaching assistant at Dalhousie
Halifax is also where she met Fielder, so the move for that degree ended up shaping the rest of the story.
Her work as a children’s librarian
Ziolkowska’s professional field is children’s and youth librarianship, with a focus on reading development.
That is a specific job, not a general one. A reading specialist works with children who are behind on literacy, often those with learning differences, building vocabulary and comprehension through structured one-to-one and small-group sessions. It is patient, unglamorous work in schools and public libraries.
She has held this kind of role throughout her career, before the marriage and since.
How she met Nathan Fielder
They met in Halifax in the late 2000s, at a comedy show a friend was performing in. Fielder was not yet famous.
Nathan for You premiered on Comedy Central in 2013, two years after the wedding. When they met, he was an emerging Canadian comedian and she was completing her library degree.
The 2011 marriage
They married in 2011 in a private ceremony attended only by close family and friends. No photographs from the day have been published.
The privacy was not a reaction to fame, because there was not much yet. It appears to be simply how both of them preferred to live.
The 2014 divorce
The marriage lasted three years. They separated in 2014, and Fielder confirmed the divorce publicly in an interview the following year.
Neither has ever given a reason. There is no public account of what went wrong, and anyone who tells you otherwise is guessing.
What Fielder has said
Fielder has referred to the divorce a handful of times, always briefly.
He told New York magazine that the separation happened in 2014, during the filming of the second season of Nathan for You. He described the experience as jarring. In a 2017 Rolling Stone interview he declined to discuss the relationship in any detail, and in later interviews he spoke about the emotional weight of the period without going into specifics.
Reports consistently say the two remained on cordial terms afterwards.
Fans have noted the contrast between the marriage and the persona Fielder played on screen, where he presented himself as awkward and single. He was married through the first season.
What the internet gets wrong about Sarah Ziolkowska
Search results for her name contain a striking number of contradictions. If you are reading about her elsewhere, these are the errors to watch for.
| Claim | Problem |
|---|---|
| “Together for more than a decade” | They married in 2011 and divorced in 2014. The marriage lasted three years. |
| Her current employer | At least three different workplaces are named across sites, in two different provinces and one US state. They cannot all be right. |
| “Sarah Joy McKenna” | One site gives this as her legal name. It does not match court records or any other source. |
| A specific net worth figure | No source exists for any figure published about her. |
| Named social media accounts | She has no confirmed public accounts. Profiles using her name are unverified. |
At least one page ranking for her name appears to be machine-generated, containing phrases that do not mean anything in English.
We have deliberately not published her current employer. The sources conflict, and she is a private individual rather than a public figure. Naming the workplace of someone who never sought attention adds nothing a reader actually needs.
Her net worth
No verified figure exists.
Ziolkowska is a working librarian who has never made a financial disclosure. Public-sector library salaries in Canada are a matter of public record in aggregate, but nothing specific to her has been published. Any number you see attached to her name was invented, and her ex-husband’s earnings are not hers.
Where she is now
She continues to work as a librarian in Canada and lives privately. She has given no interviews, made no public statements about the marriage, and did not comment when The Rehearsal brought renewed attention to Fielder’s personal history in 2025.
Twelve years after the divorce, she has said nothing at all. That looks deliberate.
FAQs
Who is Sarah Ziolkowska?
A Canadian children’s librarian and reading specialist, and the ex-wife of comedian Nathan Fielder.
When did she marry Nathan Fielder?
In 2011, in a private ceremony with only close family and friends present.
When did they divorce?
They separated in 2014, and Fielder confirmed the divorce publicly the following year.
Why did Sarah Ziolkowska and Nathan Fielder divorce?
Neither has ever said. No reliable account of the reason exists.
Do they have children?
No.
How did they meet?
At a comedy show in Halifax in the late 2000s, before Fielder became well known.
What does Sarah Ziolkowska do for a living?
She works as a children’s librarian and reading specialist.
Where did she study?
The University of Toronto for applied science, then Dalhousie University for a Master of Library and Information Science.
Is she on social media?
She has no confirmed public accounts. Any profile using her name is unverified.
The short version
Sarah Ziolkowska married a comedian before he was famous, divorced him three years later, and went back to helping children learn to read. That is the entire documented story.
Everything beyond it, the workplace details, the net worth, the reasons for the split, is filler invented by sites that had nothing to write. She is a librarian who was briefly married to someone who became well known. She appears to have no interest in being anything else, and that is a reasonable position for a person who never asked to be searched for.
JacksonPadilla is a writer at Around Celebrities, covering celebrity families, relationships, biographies, and the stories behind the stars. With a focus on clear and engaging storytelling, Kole helps readers discover the people and connections beyond the spotlight.
