Ah, young love. It's both the most wonderful thing and the most disastrous thing in the world. And in Hollywood, it's more common than you'd think. For stars like Drew Barrymore, Demi Moore, and Macaulay Culkin, growing up in the spotlight means they get a crash course in adulthood much sooner than their peers, and sometimes it means making family-planning decisions sooner than planned. While we congratulate the couple who conclusively proves that young love can work — Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, who got married at 25 and have been together for over 26 years since — we're also looking back at all the young couples who got married under the age of 25.
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While some young newlyweds have stood the test of time, like Ripa and Consuelos, or longtime married Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar, you might be surprised to learn they were married before: Janet Jackson's brief marriage at 18 and Uma Thurman's at 20 didn't define these stars, but were simply steps on the path to becoming who they are today.
It's hard not to notice how many of these couples met while filming a movie. When twenty-somethings are paired with up-and-coming stars, they seem especially likely to fall in love with their co-stars. Whether that's by design or coincidence remains to be seen, but it must be exciting to experience the early excitement of stardom with someone who really gets it.
No matter how they met, it's time to throw away your caution and read about all the celebrity couples who got married in their teens or early twenties.
A version of this story was originally published in 2021.
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Millie Bobby Brown & Jake Bongiovi
Image courtesy of Christina Bumphrey for Variety
20-year-old actress Millie Bobby Brown married her 22-year-old boyfriend Jake Bongiovi in May 2024 after three years of dating.
Before getting married, Stranger Things The actress said in an interview that she feels ready to take the leap. Glamour.
“It's not like you can't do it in 10 years. Of course you can do it in 10 years. But why wait when you know it's going to work now? Why wait? Just go ahead and do it.”
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Kelly Ripa & Mark Consuelos
Image courtesy of WWD/CondeNast/NYT Syndicate) (Photo by Steve Eichner/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images)
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos were both just 25 when they tied the knot, and more than 25 happy years later, the two are still head over heels in love with each other.
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Bindi Irwin & Chandler Powell
Image courtesy of Kate Berry/Australia Zoo/Discovery+.
Steve Irwin's daughter Bindi and Chandler Powell were married on March 25, 2020, after several years of dating. Bindi was 21 and Chandler was 23. The couple welcomed their adorable daughter, Grace Warrior, just a year later and have been living happily ever after ever since.
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Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr.
Image credit: Photo by Steve Eichner/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images.
Sarah Michelle Gellar met Freddie Prinze Jr. on the set of What Did You Do Last Summer when she was 20 years old, but they didn't marry until 2002, when she was 25 and he was 26. The couple is still happily together today.
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Demi Moore and Freddie Moore
Image credit: Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images.
When Demi Moore was still Demi Guynes, she met and married Freddie Moore in 1980 and took his last name when she was 17 and he was 29. The couple split in 1985, but Demi kept her last name.
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Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe
Image credit: Photo by Donato Sardella/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images.
Reese Witherspoon and Cruel Intentions The two married co-star Ryan Phillippe in 1999 when she was 23 and he was 25. The couple welcomed two children, Ava and Deacon Reese Phillippe, before announcing their separation in 2006.
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Janet Jackson & James DeBarge
Image credit: Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images.
In 1984, at the age of 18, Janet Jackson married her first husband, James DeBarge, but unfortunately it didn't last long and the marriage was annulled in 1985.
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Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey
Image credit: Photo by Fairchild Archive/Penske Media via Getty Images.
Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey's infamous marriage took place when Simpson was 22 and Lachey was 29. After three years of marriage, the couple went their separate ways.
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Angelina Jolie and Jonny Lee Miller
Image credit: Photo by United Artists/Getty Images.
Angelina Jolie was 21 when she married her first husband, Jonny Lee Miller, who she met when he was 24 on the set of a film they were both working on together. hackerThe couple separated four years later.
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Hilary Duff and Mike Comrie
Image credit: Photo by Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic.
Hilary Duff married her first husband, Mike Comrie, when she was 22 and he was 30. The couple welcomed a son, Luca Cruz, but announced their separation in 2014.
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Macaulay Culkin and Rachel Miner
Image credit: Photo by Jim Spellman/WireImage.
Child actor Macaulay Culkin was just 17 when he married Rachel Miner in 1998, but because she was also 17, he needed her parents' permission to marry her. The couple separated in 2000.
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Melanie Griffith & Don Johnson
Image credit: Photo by Tom Wargacki/WireImage.
Melanie Griffith was 14 when she first met 22-year-old Don Johnson, and their relationship progressed quickly. She waited until she was 18 to marry him in 1976, but the marriage lasted just six months. Griffith and Johnson remarried 13 years later, in 1989, and their relationship lasted until they separated in 1994.
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Uma Thurman and Gary Oldman
Image credit: Photo by Robin Platzer/IMAGES/Getty Images.
Uma Thurman was first married to Gary Oldman in 1990, when she was just 20 and he was 32. The couple split up two years later.
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Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner
Image credit: Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic.
game of thrones Star Sophie Turner was just 23 when she married Jonas Brothers' Joe Jonas in a secret ceremony in Las Vegas in 2019. The couple remained together until 2023.
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Olivia Wilde and Tao Ruspoli
Image credit: Photo by Giulio Marcocchi/Getty Images.
Olivia Wilde's wild child past began when she married 28-year-old Italian prince Tao Ruspoli on a school bus at the tender age of 19. The couple were together for eight years before splitting in 2011.
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Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin
Image credit: Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic.
Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin epitomized young love when they married in 2018. Hailey was 21 and Justin was 24, but they'd already been in the spotlight for nearly a decade by that point.
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David and Victoria Beckham
Image credit: Photo by PA Images via Getty Images.
David and Victoria Beckham dated for just two years before they married at Luttrellstown Castle in Ireland in 1999. Victoria was 25 and David was 24. The two have been happily married for nearly 23 years and have four beautiful children together: Brooklyn Joseph, Romeo James, Cruz David, and Harper Seven.
