Patrick and Jillian Dempsey Mark 27 Years After Once Calling Off a Divorce

Most long Hollywood marriages get framed as smooth from the outside, but Patrick and Jillian Dempsey’s 27-year relationship includes a chapter that didn’t go that way at all, and it’s the reason their anniversary carries more weight than a typical milestone.

The two met in 1994, when Patrick came in as a client at the salon where Jillian was working as a hairstylist. She’s said she was surprised to see his name on the appointment list and even more surprised when he actually walked in.

The two became friends first, both were in other relationships at the time, and it wasn’t until 1997 that things turned romantic.

Two years later, on July 31, 1999, they married at his family’s farmhouse in Maine, an intimate ceremony far removed from the usual scale of a celebrity wedding.

Over the next several years, Patrick’s career expanded through his role on Grey’s Anatomy, and Jillian built her own career as a sought-after makeup artist and later a beauty brand founder.

They welcomed daughter Talula in 2002, followed by twin sons Darby and Sullivan in 2007.

Then, in January 2015, after 15 years of marriage, Jillian filed for divorce. In a joint statement at the time, the couple said the decision came after “careful consideration and mutual respect,” and asked for privacy for the sake of their children.

It wasn’t a quiet split from the public eye, the filing made headlines internationally, and for over a year, the couple’s status was unclear.

Rather than proceeding to a finalized divorce, the two spent that time working through their issues, including attending couples counseling.

Patrick has since said the process meant real changes on his end, including cutting back on his auto racing schedule to make more room for family life.

By late 2016, they’d reconciled enough that Jillian moved to formally withdraw the divorce filing, she filed the request on November 4, 2016, and a judge granted it just days later, officially ending the case.

Patrick has spoken candidly about that period since. “Our marriage was not something I was prepared to let go of,” he told People in 2016.

“I didn’t feel like we had done all the work. And we both wanted to do that work.” He’s continued to describe the process in later interviews as ongoing work rather than something they fixed once and moved past, communication, date nights, and staying engaged with each other, even years later.

In the time since, the Dempseys have kept a fairly consistent public presence, sharing anniversary posts and appearing together at events like film premieres, while otherwise keeping much of their day-to-day life private.

Jillian continues to run her beauty business, and Patrick continues acting and racing, though by his own account with more balance than before 2015.

Their 27th anniversary this year isn’t a milestone built on an uninterrupted relationship, it’s one built on a couple who came close to ending things and chose, deliberately, to do the work to stay together instead.

That distinction is part of why their story continues to draw attention well beyond a typical celebrity anniversary post: it’s not just about longevity, but about what they did with a period when longevity wasn’t guaranteed.

Read More: The 3 Ramayana Trailer Details Making Hollywood Fans Take Notice