Celebrity

“Still giddy to be stuck with you”: Brooke Shields and husband Chris Henchy celebrate 23 years of marriage

“Love of my life.”
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American actress Brooke Shields has been on the Hollywood scene for decades now, having started her career as a child actor and model.

But she doesn’t do it alone – she’s supported by her husband Chris Henchy, who also happens to work within the industry too.

Brooke with Chris in 2000. (Image: Getty)

Chris Henchy, 60, is a screenwriter, producer and director who is well-known within the comedy genre. Some of the hit films and television shows he has worked on include Daddy’s Home, Step Brothers, The Campaign and The Other Guys.

Brooke Shields, 58, first met Chris in 1999 on the Warner Bros lot in California, and their introduction was actually orchestrated by her dog!

In her 2005 memoir, Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression, the actress shared details about the couple’s first encounter.

“To this day I believe that I fell in love with Chris the day we met, in 1999, but I would never tell him that!” she wrote. 

“I had just gotten an American bulldog, Darla, and I brought her to meet friends of mine in the gym on the Warner Bros lot. While there, the dog wandered off, and Chris brought her back. He was writing for a show filmed on the lot and loved dogs. We chatted and he made me laugh.”

The couple together in 2023. (Image: Getty)

The pair ran into each other again three weeks later in Washington when Brooke hosted a show that Chris was a writer for.

“We started spending time together and became friends. I was struck by how thoughtful and funny he was,” she wrote.

At the time, the 58-year-old actress had only recently divorced from her first husband, tennis player Andre Agassi, and wanted to take things slow, but she reached a point where she “had to admit that there was something between us that I could no longer ignore, and we started dating.”

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The couple were quickly engaged in 2000 before they tied the knot twice the following year! 

Brooke and Chris first exchanged vows in a small and private ceremony on Catalina Island in California in April, and then had another bigger ceremony on 26 May in Palm Springs.

The Blue Lagoon actress wore a stunning strapless Vera Wang gown to their second lot of nuptials and combined the look with loose waves in her hair and a cropped veil.

The couple on their wedding day in 2001. (Image: Instagram)

Brooke and Chris have since welcomed two children together, both daughters.

Rowan Francis Henchy was born in 2003, and Grier Hammond Henchy in 2006.

The Hollywood star wrote a series of children’s books when Rowan and Grier were young, that were based on their adorable relationship with their father.

“I think [Chris] was embarrassed, but very sort of touched by it,” Brooke said on Today

“I feel like the relationship between little girls in particular — I only have little girls — and their dad is such a unique one. He’s a rockstar god to them.”

Brooke and Chris with their daughters Grier (left) and Rowan (right). (Image: Getty)

To celebrate the couple’s 23rd wedding anniversary in 2024, Brooke made a touching post on social media in tribute to her husband.

“Today marks 23 years married to the love of my life 🤍 still giddy to be stuck with you, Henchy!,” she wrote alongside a selection of photos of the pair from different parts of their life, including them on their wedding day as well as more recent selfies of them on vacation.

In 2023, Brooke told PEOPLE that laughter is a key reason for her long-lasting relationship.

“He made me laugh and he consistently makes me laugh and doesn’t take anything too seriously so I don’t go down those rabbit holes the way I used to.

“He sort of just brings me back out and says, ‘We’ll figure it out.’ So he’s good at levelling me.”

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