Jerry O'Connell Pins Wedding Ring to Underwear

The actor tells PEOPLE how he remembers where his band is hidden

Published on August 21, 2007 11:00AM EDT

He’s been wed to Rebecca Romijn little more than a month, but Jerry O’Connell already has a few marital tricks up his sleeve – or, to be more precise, down his pants.

“I get very nervous when I have to take my wedding ring off,” O’Connell, 33, told PEOPLE at Monday’s DVD release party for Ugly Betty: The Complete First Season – The Bettyfied Edition. “But I have to everyday at work, so I safety pin it to my underwear so I’ll never forget it.”

Playing a ringless divorcée on the new fall ABC show Carpoolers, O’Connell will soon get to turn the tables on his wife, 34, who is about to reprise her role in the upcoming second season of Ugly Betty.

“They said there was a role for my ex-wife, and they wanted my real wife to play it,” O’Connell says, “I said [to her], ‘I did Ugly Betty, so now you’re on Carpoolers.”

His new show follows four men from all walks of life who carpool to work: one has eight kids, another has a new baby, one’s a dad with a 30-year-old son still living in the house, and yet another is newly divorced guy (O’Connell) who “hates the world.”

But unlike his character, O’Connell continues to see life through rose-colored glasses.

“I highly suggest marriage to all my friends who are dating,” O’Connell gushes as he happens to be holding Romijn’s discarded high heels. “I have a lot of friends who date but aren’t ready to make that step, and it’s like, ‘Just do it, it’s so much fun and such a relief.’ ”

As for where Romijn keeps her ring: “She leaves it at home by the sink,” says her husband. “I like wearing my wedding ring, it’s nice.”