19 Celebrities Who Decided To Let Their Private Lives Be, Well, Private And Kept These Big Milestones A Secret
1.First, in 2021, during a Variety's Actors on Actors interview, Elizabeth Olsen casually dropped that she was married to her longtime fiancé, Robbie Arnett. Then, in 2022, she and Robbie revealed they had eloped and "had a wedding at another time," and it actually happened before the COVID-19 pandemic. Lizzie added, "I just never talked about it."
Lizzie also said they got lucky because during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, she had to go to England to film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and with visas and everything else happening, it was easier to bring Robbie with her because they were married. If they weren't married, he wouldn't have been able to come.
2.While attending the funeral for her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, Riley Keough revealed she had a daughter. While reading a eulogy that Riley wrote, her husband, Ben Smith-Petersen said, "I hope I can love my daughter the way you loved me." Later, Riley said she and Ben welcomed their daughter via surrogate in 2022.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Riley talked about her daughter, sharing her name was Tupelo Storm Smith-Petersen. Tupelo is in honor of where Elvis Presley was born in Mississippi, with Storm honoring Riley's late-brother Benjamin Storm.
3.Sandra Bullock revealed she adopted her son, Louis, three months after the adoption was finalized in 2010. At the same time, Sandra also revealed she and ex-husband Jesse James actually began the adoption process four years prior. After she and Jesse separated, Sandra finalized the adoption as a single parent, all around the same time she won her Oscar for The Blind Side.
In 2015, Sandra also revealed that she had fostered and then adopted her daughter, Laila. Choosing to keep this adoption a secret as well, Sandra said it all came down to wanting to protect her daughter's privacy. She explained, "Most foster children are in foster care because they were taken from their birth homes under tragic circumstances — and the last thing I wanted was to bring more harm to her because of the nature of my job."
4.In 1991, Janet Jackson married René Elizondo Jr., however they kept their marriage a secret from the public until René sued Janet for divorce in 2000. According to Rolling Stone, René cited "irreconcilable differences" in the filing. René had worked with Janet for 15 years at the time, with him co-writing several of her songs, like "Velvet Rope," and directing a few of her videos.
At the time of the divorce announcement, Janet reportedly said she kept their relationship private because she sought "to have a normal family life," especially since her "personal life [had] been lived in the public eye" since she was a child.
5.Brenda Song and Macaulay Culkin are notoriously private about their lives, so it's no surprise they kept the birth of their two children a secret as long as possible. Their first son, Dakota, who is named after Macaulay's late sister, in 2021. Meanwhile, Kieran Culkin revealed Brenda and Macaulay had welcomed a second child in 2023.
In December 2023, Brenda and their two children supported Macaulay as he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In his acceptance speech, Macaulay emotionally thanked Brenda, saying, "You're not only the best woman I've ever known, you're the best person I've ever known. You've given me all my purpose. You've given me family."
6.In 2020, Niecy Nash-Betts announced on Instagram that she and Jessica Betts had gotten married. This was also the first time they publicly revealed their relationship. She captioned the post, "Mrs. Carol Denise Betts #LoveWins." Later on, Niecy revealed that even people she and Jessica knew IRL didn't find out until they posted the wedding photo.
In 2021, Niecy and Jessica talked about their relationship, with Niecy saying, "I have always just loved who I've loved when I loved them, and it just so happened I loved boys...until I didn't." Jessica said they met through social media, with Jessica joking that Niecy "left [her] on read for a few months."
7.In June 2019, The 100 stars Eliza Taylor and Bob Morley suddenly announced that they were married, after keeping their relationship a secret. Eliza simply tweeted a wedding photo with the caption, "Recently I married my best friend and soul mate," and tagged Bob.
8.Johnny Galecki, who has taken a step back from acting since The Big Bang Theory ended in 2019, recently revealed that he got married and they welcomed a child named Oona Evelena.
9. In 2024, Bridgit Mendler announced that she is the mother to a "sweet" 4-year-old boy, who she started fostering in 2021 and adopted "near Christmas of 2022." She added, "I'm so lucky — being a parent is the biggest gift and most defining experience there is."
The other news I wanted to share is I’m a mama to a sweet 4yo boy. Started fostering in 2021 adopted near Christmas of 2022. I’m so lucky — being a parent is the biggest gift and most defining experience there isthat’s my news for now folks ?? pic.twitter.com/o8gU4gtHso
— Bridgit Mendler (@bridgitmendler) February 20, 2024
Bridgit Mendler / X / Via x.com
Bridgit tweeted the news the same day it was announced that she is the CEO of a startup called Northwood Space. To her announcement about her son, she concluded the tweet with, "That's my news for now folks."
10.Bryan Greenberg announced the birth of his and Jamie Chung's twin sons in an Instagram post in October 2021. After publicly sharing her decision to freeze her eggs in 2019, Jamie said she and Bryan decided to keep their surrogacy journey a secret because she felt there is still "a little bit of shame" and stigma surrounding surrogacy, and they wanted to announce things when they were "ready to."
11.After dating Jeff Baena for 10 years, Aubrey Plaza casually revealed they were husband and wife in an Instagram post in 2021 while announcing their latest project together, Spin Me Round.
Later that same year, Aubrey said they got married pretty spur of the moment with the help of a marriage website. She added that it was their 10-year anniversary, it was during the COVID-19 lockdown, and she joked about "doing something special" to celebrate, like getting married. So, she searched online for someone to marry them that day on their actual anniversary.
12.Troian Bellisario announced the birth of her and Patrick J. Adams's second daughter, Elliot, in June 2021 after keeping her pregnancy hidden. Later, while on the podcast Katie's Crib, Troian detailed how Elliot was actually born in a hospital parking lot after her labor suddenly progressed very quickly.
13.After dating for seven years, Melanie Lynskey revealed in 2022 that she and Jason Ritter actually got married in 2020 before Melanie had to fly to Canada to film Yellowjackets Season 1. They got married on their front porch, with only two friends in attendance: Ali Ahn and William Jackson Harper.
14.Despite consistent rumors that she was pregnant, Halle Bailey kept her pregnancy a secret and eventually announced the birth of her first child in Jan. 2024 on Instagram. Some people criticized her for "lying" about being pregnant, and Halle eventually tweeted, "I never lied or even said anything about it."
She continued, writing, "Making a joke about my nose was the farthest I went," which was a reference to when she addressed the "pregnancy nose" speculation in Nov. 2023. Halle also said she tried to stay off social media to "just keep [herself] sane and OK."
15.In 2017, after reports surfaced that Margot Robbie had married Tom Ackerley in a private ceremony in Australia, Margot was reportedly congratulated at an event, where she replied, "It's been three years," meaning they might've gotten married way before it became public knowledge.
Later on, Margot also revealed that they postponed their honeymoon to work on I, Tonya, which Margot and Tom produced together and Margot starred in. Speaking about their relationship while on the Barbie press tour, Margot said, "I am so lucky. He likes being behind the camera. He’s not fazed by any of this stuff. He’s just the best."
16.Issa Rae has been known for keeping her private life as private as possible. Then, in 2021, she suddenly posted photos from her gorgeous wedding in France. Issa and her husband, Louis Diame, have been linked since 2012, but she rarely discussed their relationship in interviews.
In a 2021 interview, Issa discussed her choice to drop her wedding pics on Instagram, saying, "I still try to be private about my personal life, but that was something that I knew was going to be shared, and I just wanted to share it on my own terms."
17.On Mother's Day in 2021, Samira Wiley casually announced she and her wife, Lauren Morelli, recently welcomed their daughter, George, after keeping the pregnancy private. In the post, Samira wrote, "Happy 1st Mother’s Day to my beautiful wife, who four weeks ago today after laboring for almost 3 days gave birth to our first child."
18.Sarah Snook casually revealed in a 2021 interview with Vogue Australia that she had married her best friend, Dave Lawson, earlier that year. She explained that they "fell in love" after they were locked down together at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sarah said, "We've just never been single at the same time. I proposed and we got married in February in my backyard."
They got married in a small ceremony in their backyard in Brooklyn, with her Succession costar Aussie Ash Zukerman as a witness. Sarah also kept her pregnancy under wraps until she showed off her baby bump at the Succession Season 4 premiere. And then, she also casually dropped the news of the birth of her child while posting about the Succession series finale.
19.And finally, Mindy Kaling kept her pregnancy with her second child a secret during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to quarantine, she was able to hide it pretty easily and finally announced the birth of her child when she felt ready.
