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“Model” Marriages: Which Pair Has Lasted 22 Years and Why
Paulina Porizkova and Ric Ocasek will celebrate their 23rd wedding anniversary this summer. Considering she was only 19 when they got married, it was his third marriage, he had four kids from his previous marriages, he was married when he and Paulina met, he has claimed to be attracted to both men and women, they have been nicknamed “Beauty and the Beast,” and he’s a rock star, the odds of them making it this long were miniscule. Plus, Paulina’s parents split when she was a kid, and children of divorce are more likely to divorce themselves.
Being a child of divorce (actually an adult of divorce; I was 21), and happily married (except for small irritations involving multiple dirty towels per day, wet bathroom floors, and an apparent clothes hamper phobia), I was curious to track other “model” marriages and see if Paulina and Ric are the exception; are celebs splitting up more often when their parents’ unions did not last till death did them part? Or are fame, fortune, and hot co-workers (Ric and Paulina met on the set of a Car’s music video) the problem?
Here’s a rundown:
Christie Brinkley – divorced 4 times; divorced parents
Brooke Shields – divorced once (married to writer/producer Chris Henchy); divorced parents
Elle MacPherson – divorced once; divorced parents
Cindy Crawford – divorced once (married to restaurateur and former model Rande Gerber); divorced parents
Linda Evangelista – divorced once; parents NOT divorced
Tatjana Patitz – divorced once; parents NOT divorced
Stefanie Seymour – divorced once (almost twice; married to billionaire businessman Peter Brant); parents NOT divorced
Christy Turlington – no divorces (married to actor/director/writer Ed Burns); parents NOT divorced
Claudia Schiffer – no divorces (married to film director Matthew Vaughn); parents NOT divorced
Heidi Klum – divorced once, likely to divorce Seal (Read About That Here); parents NOT divorced
Kate Moss – married The Kills guitarist Jamie Hince last summer; parents divorced
Looks like I can’t pinpoint exactly why some celeb matches last and some don’t (so much for becoming a fabulously successful Hollywood marriage counselor). Divorced parents don’t help the odds of marital bliss, but clearly the biggest divorce risk factor is being famous enough to be on this list. These models are way over the general public’s 50% divorce rate, while their parents are right in line with it.
Based on the data, the odds aren’t looking great for Kate, but at least she has Paulina for inspiration. A friend’s mom (who knew my fiance well) offered up this bit of advice on my wedding day: “The key to a successful marriage is low expectations.” Brilliant!
Paulina and I recently “chatted” on Twitter and she shared this advice: “Work just as hard at marriage as you would for CEO. And low expectations help.”
To see where I came up with the idea for this post, see the last paragraph of 15 Oscar Winners Who Used to Model
Simon and Yasmin Le Bon