Had their mutual pal not missed their flight on a certain fateful day, Freddie Prinze Jr. and
Sarah Michelle Gellar may have just carried on as friends having the occasional meal together.
Two decades. Two kids. A $1 million bet. One Japanese restaurant. And plenty of
beautiful moments. In today’s video, we’re diving into the long-lasting love story of
the early 2000s pop culture icons. Hop in! Rumour Juice has all the details for you!
In 2000, Freddie invited a few friends to meet over dinner.
One of the friends turned out to be his future wife and our favorite vampire slayer,
Sarah Michelle Gellar. And the other friend didn’t show up. Well, they couldn’t make it.
With their dinner companion a no-show, Gellar and Prinze still decided to meet and catch up.
And at an upscale sushi place, Sarah did something that caught her future hubby off guard.
“Sarah came to dinner with me, and we sat down. She ate everything, including a crab that they
let walk across the counter, then killed while it was alive in some oil and said,
‘It’s popcorn, try.’ I was like, ‘Yo, my girl is legit,’” Freddie recalled.
Fast-forward to the present, the spot still stands as Prinze’s favorite,
just as the couple remains together, more than two decades and two kids later.
It’s even more impressive when you consider Sarah and Freddie were real
youngsters — just 22 and 23 the night their friendship suddenly became something more.
And both were in their mid-twenties when they wed in Mexico two and a half years later.
Despite each having declared they didn’t believe in marriage, “one day,
I just knew we’re going to get married and that I was going to propose. I didn’t know when or how.”
The lovebirds flew themselves and an estimated 60 guests to Mexico’s resort
for their September 2002 wedding. Sadly, everything that could go wrong did go wrong,
and Mother Nature continuously laid the smackdown. According to People magazine, Hurricane Hernan was
rearing its ugly head some 300 miles away from where the couple’s outdoor nuptials
were set to take place, forcing them to move the ceremony indoors to escape the elements.
And then, things got even worse. The day after they said their “I do’s,” a 4.6-magnitude
earthquake struck the area just as their guests were making the trek back home!
Now, some people would see these events as major red flags and the precursors to a
marriage full of doom, right? Well, not really. Friends and family all agreed that the weekend
was “the most incredible”. They laughed, they danced, and “shared in their love.”
Even the bride couldn’t be fazed by Mother Nature’s shenanigans.
In fact, while the guests all left the country in the wake of the earthquake,
the newly married couple stayed in Mexico to enjoy their honeymoon.
The couple generally doesn’t get disturbed, be it by Nature’s will or sleazy journalists.
Howard Stern said many things to get a reaction from his guests.
And, unfortunately, his strategies work, and many people let their guards down.
However, when Prinze joined the show back in 2001, he didn’t let Stern get under his skin,
and he never backed down from his position. When discussing his new relationship with
Gellar, the actor spoke about how committed the two of them were.
Stern mocked this, saying that there is no such thing as lasting love in Hollywood.
He listed off couples that didn’t work out and suggested to Prinze that he would
eventually leave Gellar or be unfaithful to her. Stern even took it one step further. He initiated
a written bet with Prinze on the show. Stern bet him $1 million that the couple would not last.
He said, “In about 10 years, you’re going to hunt me down and go, ‘Howard,
I owe you money.’” Prinze agreed to the bet. Seven years ago, at the 15-year mark,
while doing an interview on Build Series, Prinze spoke about the bet. Pointing at the camera,
Prinze addressed Stern, saying, “You have not paid that bet, young man.”
Now we’re also waiting, gotta say… Celebrity couples who sail past that ten-year
mark tend to get quizzed on the secrets to their success. Sarah and Freddie are not the exception.
“Yeah, if there were a magic secret, I would’ve written a book, and everyone would know,” Freddie
said. “I think it’s more about the person you’re with and the path that you travel on,”
the She’s All That star added. Sarah says that they put in the work,
stressing that “to have a successful relationship, whether it’s marriage, whether it’s friendship,
whether it’s business, you have to put the time if you want to see the results.”
They also know when someone needs a little space, and when someone needs a hug or a laugh.
But mostly, she and the Punky Brewster actor just like each other, an entirely underrated
factor when it comes to long-lasting unions. That part of their relationship clicked early
on. Though they shared a few scenes in the instant horror classic, the future couple
spent a great deal of time together. A native New Yorker, Gellar didn’t have a driver’s license,
which was a problem when the shooting took place in the coastal town of Southport,
30 miles from the nearest big city of Wilmington. “It was an hour drive just to get to the gym,”
he continued. “So, I started driving her, and that’s when her and I became friends.”
They’d first get together as often as anyone might see a former co-worker, having dinners together,
a set visit here and there. You have to remember Gellar making the briefest
of non-verbal cameos in 1999’s She’s All That. But there was something about that night at that
spot, with Gellar’s adventurous palate impressing confessed Japanophile Prinze. “We were just two
people at dinner catching up. We had a long car ride and a long dinner, and things just happened,”
she said of their unexpected date night. Being able to fast-forward past the
getting-to-know-you bit was one of the reasons Prinze thinks their relationship has always
been so good. He knew what her morals were, what her priorities were, and vice versa.
Likewise, they knew each other’s faults and good qualities,
which pointed to this being a match. “Sarah and I are always very direct and blunt. That’s how we’ve
rolled for 20-plus years,” Prinze once said. “If I do something that’ll make her mad,
she’s like, ‘Hey man, that sucks, why’d you do that?’ Then I’m like, ‘Oh god,
I’m sorry,’ and I don’t do it again.” They’re not big on Valentine’s Day.
“We don’t do presents, but we’ll get some smooches in there, man,” Prinze told Parade.
When they do go out, however, the couple takes part in a bit of ritual that allows
them to spend some quality time together and shed the additional calories from dinner.
“We get a little bit of cold sake and some sushi and make sure we park far away from the
restaurant, so we can walk a bit after like we used to when we lived here in New York.”
The couple prefers date nights with home cooking to fancy outings, and they are serious when it
comes to dedicated family time. After all, they know just how important one
seemingly insignificant meal can turn out to be. Apparently, the actors fight over who gets to stay
home. “You’d think it would be the opposite, that the parents would be like, ‘No, I’ll go to work!’
but he’s like, ‘You stayed home for two years! It’s my turn!’” Gellar said in 2012.
Though both actors are proud that they’ve been able to use storytelling to make a difference in
people’s lives, their kids bring them the most gratification, hands down.
“I have accomplished more in my career than I think I could have ever anticipated,”
Sarah told W. “I’ve been a product of not one but multiple shows that resonate,
that people still watch, that people still love and talk about. So, for me, it’s all gravy.”
Among the Hollywood marriages and relationships that have stood the test of time,
there’s a special place for Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Keep on thriving and cooking for each other!