As the daughter of NHL legend, Wayne Gretzky, Paulina Gretzky, was born into the limelight.
But growing up in a famous family certainly didn't stop this stunner from pursuing her
own dreams. From celebrity kid to model mom, this is the untold truth of Paulina Gretzky.
While some children of famous figures are completely unaware of the fact that their
parents are well-known and highly recognizable celebrities, it seems that Paulina was the exact
opposite. According to Golf Digest, little Paulina came into the world just months after her dad,
Wayne Gretzky, joined the L.A. Kings. And by that time, he was already a sports icon.
"They called it the trade of the century. Number 99. Wayne Gretzky."
Bleacher Report reported,
"After looking back on a 20-year career,
no one can say Gretzky didn't meet such expectations in a storybook career
that not only saw him obliterate records, but skate away as the greatest athlete ever."
When Golf Digest asked Paulina in 2014 if she was aware of the fact that her dad was in fact,
"The Great One," while she was growing up, she said,
"Totally! I went to games with my mom all the time, especially in New York."
"I just got engaged. I've got a lovely fiancée, Paulina. And I think, you know,
things are going really good right now." In 2013, Paulina and pro golfer, Dustin Johnson,
announced their engagement via Johnson's Twitter account. But Johnson had apparently met Paulina's
mom, Janet Jones, before he met Paulina — at the Hero World Challenge golf tournament in 2009,
according to Business Insider. The Gretzky family then invited Johnson to their house for dinner,
where he met Paulina. And while they were both in different relationships at the time,
they started up a friendship. Paulina explained their first meeting, telling Golf Digest,
"So I show up looking like a complete ragamuffin,
and here's this really cute guy. I didn't stay long, but he was such a gentleman,
so endearing. He's always been that way to me. We exchanged numbers, and here we are."
While that might make it sound like everything went smoothly after their introduction,
Paulina revealed that her first date with Johnson, which finally happened three years later,
probably didn't go the way most people would expect. She told GOLF,
"I don't know if you can call it a date since my dad tagged along."
Paulina's first Instagram post in 2013 was an image of herself
as a child in the arms of her famous father with the caption,
"Every Little Girl's First Love […] Their Dad."
She also took to social media to send out a birthday message to him in 2018, posting,
"99 on the ice but number 1 in my heart."
And by the looks of it, she's still very close with her parents today.
According to Sports Illustrated, in 2015, Paulina and Dustin rented a townhouse just down the street
from her parents and went to their house almost every day for breakfast and dinner. Apparently,
that kind of relaxed, connected lifestyle is just what this family is all about.
"Obviously, you know, me and Paulina have a really good relationship. And, you know,
I'm very good friends with Wayne and Janet."
Sports Illustrated reported,
"It's a world away from the couple's days as social-media superstars,
their Instagram accounts filled with jet-setting adventures."
Paulina and Dustin have two children together; Tatum and River. And when River was born in 2017,
Paulina shared a now-deleted photo of Tatum giving his little brother a kiss on the head, writing,
"Welcome to the world baby boy. […] We all love you so much."
And it sounds like Paulina is truly enjoying her role as a mom.
Even Dustin confirmed that she's all about the kids, telling Golf.com in 2017,
"Everything about being a mom is her favorite."
And it seems like everything about being a grandpa is Wayne's favorite.
When Paulina's first little one was born, Wayne told Entertainment Tonight,
"I said [to Dustin], 'I'm going to get him in skates before you get him a golf club. […] Dustin
thinks he's going to hit golf balls first, but I think he's going to skate first!"
"Without question, I think he's gonna be an athlete. I'm not trying to put pressure on him."
In 2018, Paulina deleted a slew of posts from her Instagram account, per USA Today.
And while she didn't offer a reason for cleaning house, the sudden move came around
the same time that cheating rumors surfaced about Dustin and a woman named Yassie Safai,
according to TMZ. But despite the negative buzz, the outlet reported,
"A deeply connected source tells us they're NOT broken up. […] The
alleged mistress is adamant she NEVER hooked up with the PGA superstar."
For her part, Safai did try to clear things up, saying was not currently — and had never been — in
a relationship with Dustin. The golf pro then took to Twitter to respond to the speculation, writing,
"Every relationship goes through its ups and downs, but most importantly, we love
each other very much and are committed to being a family. Thank you for your love and support."
Paulina didn't speak publicly about the situation,
but she did eventually post a shot of herself and Johnson on Instagram in October 2019.
If you take a quick look at Paulina's Instagram, it appears as if her social circle is primarily
filled with her gal pals, doing fun things in cool locations. But while she clearly likes to
spend time with her girls, it turns out that she's also buddies with Kid Rock. In fact,
he happens to be a family friend. She told Golf Digest in 2014,
"My mom and dad have been friends with Kid for a long time."
And it's not like they're just friendly acquaintances. It turns out that Wayne
even helped the singer-songwriter become close friends with Dustin. Paulina told the outlet,
"My dad finally introduced Dustin to Kid because Kid said he didn't have anyone to
hang out with in Jupiter, [Florida]. Finally he and Dustin got to play golf together,
and now Kid's totally on this golf train."
Paulina may be the daughter of one of the most legendary athletes of all time, but it doesn't
seem like she's interested in hockey — at all. And if you were thinking that she's maybe more
into hitting the green since she's engaged to professional golfer Dustin Johnson, you'd
be wrong about that, too. While she was doing a photoshoot for Golf Digest, she told the outlet,
"I didn't appreciate golf as much when I was little, probably because my mom put us in
tennis camps and golf camps. […] [But] I've definitely played. I walked all 18 holes in
my dad's tournament. Felt like the longest day of my life, but I stuck through it."
Still, as the offspring of an extraordinary athlete,
Paulina does possess some natural athletic ability.
It's just that she may not exactly be interested in honing her talents. She explained,
"The truth is, I was a total tomboy and loved sports. Dad always says I was his best athlete."
On top of that, Dustin revealed to Golf.com that Paulina actually has
a pretty decent golf swing. But, since she only plays a couple of times a year
and doesn't like to practice, she isn't as good as she could be.
"You know, if she would practice a little bit, she could be pretty good."
According to her social media, Paulina is clearly into modeling.
But some fans might not know she's also an actor and pop singer. In fact, according to The Sun,
"She turned down the opportunity to go to college at a young age
to pursue a career in the entertainment industry."
While Paulina has appeared on the covers of magazines like Flare and Golf Digest,
the outlet also noted that she hasn't found the same type of success in her musical pursuits.
Granted, her song "Collecting Dust" was featured on MTV's Laguna Beach, so there's that.
As for acting, Paulina's industry résumé is a short one, filled with relatively small
roles. But she did pop up in 2009's Fame as the "Gorgeous Blonde Senior"
and played "Bikini Girl Daisy" in 2013's Grown Ups 2. Paulina seems to have put her onscreen
pursuits on pause in recent years, but who knows what roles she might land in the future.
Paulina may not be an elite athlete like her dad, Wayne Gretzky, or her fiancé, Dustin Johnson,
and she may not be an A-list actor, model, or singer, but that doesn't mean that she's not
totally rolling in the dough. And she certainly takes full advantage of her jet-set lifestyle.
If there's any doubt about that, just take a look at a few of the snaps she posts to Instagram.
She also puts a bit of a humorous spin on her adventures, like one post where she wrote:
"Taking off to a place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively
flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I'm talkin' about a little place called Aspen!"
So how can Paulina afford such a lavish lifestyle? It helps that she's banked around $5 million,
according to Celebrity Net Worth. And while that's pretty impressive, it's not nearly
as much as her guy Dustin Johnson who's worth a reported $50 million. Then there's her mom,
actor Janet Jones, who has an estimated $100 million,
and then her dad, of course, whose earnings are somewhere in the range of $250 million.
You know, chump change. Sounds like Paulina will have to start negotiating bigger paychecks
for those photoshoots if she wants to start raking it in like the rest of her family!
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