Celebrity Couples Who Married Young: Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos
Ah, young love. It can be the most wonderful thing in the world — and the most devastating. And in Hollywood, it’s more common than you might realize. When stars like Drew Barrymore, Demi Moore, or Macaulay Culkin grow up in the spotlight like they do, that often means they get a crash course in adulthood long before their peers, and sometimes, they make their family planning decisions ahead of schedule too. As we celebrate one couple that definitively proves young love can work out — Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, who have been together for over 26 years, after marrying when they were both 25 years old — we’re looking back on all the young couples who made it down the aisle before 25.
While some of these young newlyweds have stood the test of time like Ripa and Consuelos or long-wedded Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar, others you may be surprised to learn ever married at all. Janet Jackson’s brief marriage at age 18 or Uma Thurman’s brief marriage at age 20 didn’t define these stars — it was just another step in the road to becoming who they were.
Of all these couples, we can’t help but notice just how many of them seem to have met while shooting a movie together, and it seems like the possibility of falling for your co-star is extra high when you’re a young 20-something paired with another rising star. Whether that’s by design or by circumstance, we can’t know — but it’s got to be exciting to experience the early rush of stardom with someone who really gets it.
However they met, read on for all the celebrity couples who threw caution to the winds and tied the knot in their teens or early 20s.
A version of this story was originally published in 2021.
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Millie Bobby Brown & Jake Bongiovi
20-year-old actress Millie Bobby Brown married her 22-year-old beau Jake Bongiovi in May 2024 after 3 years of dating.
Prior to tying the knot, the Stranger Things actress discussed feeling ready to take the leap in an interview with Glamour.
“It’s not because I can’t do it in 10 years; of course I can do it in 10 years. But why, when I know that it’s going to work now?” she explained. “It’s like, why wait? Let’s go for it.”
Kelly Ripa & Mark Consuelos
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos were both just 25 years old when they got married — and over 25 blissful years later, they’re still head over heels for each other.
Bindi Irwin & Chandler Powell
Steve Irwin’s daughter Bindi and Chandler Powell tied the knot back on March 25, 2020, after dating a few years. Bindi was 21 years old, while Chandler was 23. The pair welcomed their adorable daughter Grace Warrior exactly one yer later and all have been on Cloud 9 since.
Sarah Michelle Gellar & Freddie Prinze Jr.
Sarah Michelle Gellar met Freddie Prinze Jr. when she was just 20 years old on the set of I Know What You Did Last Summer, but she didn’t go on to marry him until she was 25 years old and he was 26 in 2002. The couple is still happily together today.
Demi Moore & Freddy Moore
Back when Demi Moore was just Demi Guynes, she met and married Freddy Moore in 1980, taking his last name when she was just 17 years old and Freddie was 29. The couple went on to split in 1985 — but Demi held on to the name.
Reese Witherspoon & Ryan Phillippe
Reese Witherspoon and Cruel Intentions co-star Ryan Phillippe married in 1999, when she was 23 years old and he was 25. They welcomed kids Ava and Deaacon Reese Phillippe before announcing their separation in 2006.
Janet Jackson & James DeBarge
In 1984, Janet Jackson married her first husband James DeBarge at 18 years old, but it sadly didn’t last long and the marriage was annulled in 1985.
Jessica Simpson & Nick Lachey
Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey’s infamous union took place when Simpson was 22 years old and Lachey was 29 years old. After three years of marriage, the couple went their separate ways.
Angelina Jolie & Jonny Lee Miller
Angelina Jolie married her first husband Jonny Lee Miller when she was 21 years old and he was 24 years old, after meeting him on the set of their joint film Hackers. The couple split four years later.
Hilary Duff & Mike Comrie
Hilary Duff married her first husband Mike Comrie when she was 22 years old and he was 30. The couple welcomed son Luca Cruz together before announcing their split in 2014.
Macaulay Culkin & Rachel Miner
Child star Macaulay Culkin was just 17 years old when he got married to Rachel Miner in 1998 and so was she — they had to get parental permission for the wedding. The couple went on to separate in 2000.
Melanie Griffith & Don Johnson
Melanie Griffith was 14 years old when she first met 22-year-old Don Johnson, and things moved very quickly for the pair. She waited until she was 18 years old to marry him in 1976, but that marriage only went on to last for about six months — it was 13 years later, in 1989, that Griffith and Johnson went on to remarry, staying in that union until they split in 1994.
Uma Thurman & Gary Oldman
Uma Thurman was first married to Gary Oldman in 1990, when she was only 20 years old and he was 32. The couple split two years later.
Joe Jonas & Sophie Turner
Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner was just 23 years old when she tied the knot with Jonas Brother Joe Jonas in a secret Las Vegas ceremony in 2019. The couple were together until 2023.
Olivia Wilde & Tao Ruspoli
Olivia Wilde’s wild-child past began with marrying 28-year-old Italian prince Tao Ruspoli at the tender age of 19, and on a schoolbus, no less. The two stayed together for eight years, separating in 2011.
Justin Bieber & Hailey Baldwin
Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin became the poster kids for young love when they tied the knot in 2018 — she just 21 years old. and he 24 years old, though he’d already spent nearly a decade in the spotlight at that point.
David & Victoria Beckham
David Beckham and Victoria Beckham dated for only two years before tying the knot in 1999 at Luttrellstown Castle, Ireland. Victoria was 25 while David was 24. The pair have been happily married for nearly 23 years and have four beautiful children named Brooklyn Joseph, Romeo James, Cruz David, and Harper Seven.
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