They had a nightmarish first date, with Diane Kruger wondering if she should slap
Joshua Jackson. And suddenly – an earth-shattering love that lasted a decade! How did Kruger
and Jackson keep the flame burning, and why did she think their breakup was liberating?
Welcome to Rumour Juice! In today’s episode,
we’ll delve into a surprisingly passionate romance between Diane Kruger and Joshua Jackson.
Unlike most women who were in their teens and early twenties during the dawn of Dawson's Creek,
Kruger wasshe wasn't exactly a fan after she
met hin't an adoring fan of Jackson's before she met him. In fact, m, either. Yes, it seemed like
they were made for each other. But Kruger and Jackson couldn't find a common language at first.
Jackson once revealed that his first date with the German actress was
"a miserable one," thanks to a dangerous cocktail of allergens and nerves. He took her to an Italian
restaurant. A waitress arranged blooming flowers on their table. It should've been a perfect date!
But it turned out that Kruger was allergic to the flowers,
so she sniffled and sneezed the entire time.
Jackson explained, "And when I get nervous, you might have noticed I talk a lot. So I just chewed
her ear off for an hour and a half … It was amazing. I'm surprised she ever called back."
Well, it sounds like she nearly didn't.
Kruger told Conan O'Brien that she wasn't even aware that she and Jackson were
going on a date on that fateful evening in 2006, as his invitation had been unclear.
"He thinks he asked me out on a date, which is not true because I did not agree to that. I
agreed to have drinks with him," Kruger said. She actually had plans with someone else for dinner.
It’s a mystery and a miracle she said yes to this invitation.
Kruger added, “We were sitting at the bar, and it's nine o'clock,
and I'm ready to leave. And he was like, 'Let's go, we have dinner reservations.'
And I felt really bad because he looked very eager and he put on a clean shirt. And so I was like,
'OK, fine. Let's go.'" Kruger thought her
allergies might cut the date short, but alas … She thought he might suggest calling it a day.
But that didn’t happen. Jackson talked about himself for an hour and a half. Nonstop. Oh,
and it did get worse. Kruger wasn’t pleased with the end of their
dinner either, “He took me back to my hotel in his car, which was a piece of shit.” She explained
that Jackson’s car smelled so bad she could hardly bear it. Jackson himself didn’t look like the
tidiest guy in the world. So the damage was done. And, after all that, he still went in for a kiss.
"I swear to God, at the end, I was like 'Should I slap him?'" Kruger admitted.
Jackson, however, instantly fell in love. The next day he sent her flowers … with a box of Kleenex.
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By the end of 2006, the ambiguity was gone. Jackson and Kruger were
establishing themselves as one of the most beautiful Hollywood couples.
But they were sceptical about the possibility of marriage. Kruger, who'd previously been married
to director Guillaume Canet, repeatedly explained that she and Jackson didn't
equate marriage with commitment. "No paper you have signed will keep you around," she shared.
Two years later, Jackson revealed that neither he nor Diane was particularly religious,
so they didn't feel any urge to tie the knot. But, like any good media-trained
person in the public eye, he kept the door open, adding, "But never say never! I don't know."
Jackson was over the moon that ice finally melted, and he was with Kruger.
She had a great impact on his life. Given Kruger's past as a model and
her omnipresence at fashion weeks, it was only natural that Jackson brushed up on his style.
"When you are in a relationship, you want the other person to appreciate the things you like,"
Kruger described Jackson's tremendous transformation.
"It sounds superficial, but it's nice."
And, naturally, that comes with sacrifice.
"I used to have a collection of Adidas sneakers, but one day all the obnoxiously colored ones
disappeared," Jackson said in an interview. "Diane still claims I must have lost them somewhere."
In 2015, Jackson praised Kruger for her confidence and channeling that into her style.
He also added that self-respect was one of the most attractive things about Kruger.
He was mesmerized by the way she manifested it in daily life.
Jackson acknowledged that he'd learned a thing or two from her through the years, too.
"I certainly pay more attention to how I dress now than I did a decade ago
before we started dating," he opened up.
Jackson also proved that he could be of assistance in a fashion emergency
when Kruger attended what is arguably the world's most fashionable film festival:
Cannes. For a closing night in 2012, the Inglourious Basterds star opted for a
glamorous Dior gown complete with a massive hoop skirt that took her an hour to put on.
"Once I finished dinner, I had to go to the bathroom,
and it became so tight that I couldn't breathe anymore," Kruger shared.
Josh had to come with her to the lady's room and cut Kruger out of that misfortunate dress.
He literally had to help her remove it so that she could go to the bathroom. It was crazy!
Kruger ironically admitted, "That's real love, isn't it,
to have someone like him help me in the weirdest situations. He's great and he's like my hero."
Jackson was even ready to risk his life for Kruger.
Such was the case when she introduced him to her German mother.
Kruger, who said she'd only bring men to meet her mother if the relationship was "somewhat serious,"
explained to Jimmy Kimmel that it's a German tradition to have coffee and cake when you
return home. When Jackson visited, Kruger stressed the importance of this ritual.
"I said, 'You have to have cake. You have to have coffee.
Even if you don't like it.' He has a nut allergy. It had almonds in it. I was like, 'You're eating
it. You're definitely doing it.' And so he did." Um, what is up with this couple's casual disregard
for the danger of allergic reactions? Anyway, things were going well and
luckily no medicine was necessary when Kruger's mother brought over
a folder filled with clippings depicting Jackson.
This dossier included Jackson's 2002 mugshot that the actor earned after
"drunkenly assaulting a security guard" at a hockey game.
Kruger was not amused by her mother's stunt. "She thought it would be cute to go,
'So I see you've been arrested in 1997 at the hockey game.' And says, 'Whose fault was it?'"
Diane added. "We were there for three days, we did not speak for two. It was not good."
Mortifying as that sounds, you've got to admit that's some grade-A rom-com material.
In July 2016, it was reported that Jackson and Kruger had split after 10 years together,
with little detail given other than that they remain friends.
The following year, Kruger said in the interview that her split from Jackson had been
"a long time coming," noting that they'd broken up months before it was public knowledge.
"You don't break up overnight after ten years," she revealed.
"It wasn't like an urgent, 'Oh my god, I can't sleep at night' thing,"
she described the process. The actress opened up that
their relationship breakdown occurred at a time when she lost both her grandmother
and stepfather. But her separation from Jackson after a decade of dating was actually liberating.
Maybe, the reason for Kruger and Jackson split was in this tragic loss? It seems as if the
actress was facing daunting life challenges that could’ve dramatically changed her life.
Surviving that tumultuous romance, where are Kruger and Jackson now?
The stylish actress also told the magazine she felt like she was going through an identity
crisis. Kruger realized that she was living her life in a bubble and had a “very privileged life.”
“I didn’t know anything about what was really going on in the world
and I didn’t ask enough questions,” Kruger said, adding that that was the moment she
decided to make a change and “cut people out of my life who I felt were enabling my bubble.”
Four years after his difficult breakup, Jackson’s romantic life has taken a turn for the positive.
The Mighty Ducks star is “very happy” after tying the knot with the British actress
Jodie Turner-Smith. The two first sparked dating rumors in November 2018 when they
were spotted holding hands in Los Angeles. As the couple welcomed their baby girl,
the Queen & Slim star has strong opinions about where their growing family will thrive.
During an interview, she hinted that the couple might return to her husband’s native Canada.
Life was rife with surprises for Kruger as well. And the actress isn't holding
back when it comes to divulging life after a long-term romance.
She and Walking Dead star Norman Reedus welcomed a daughter in 2018.
Despite Kruger's previous declarations about marriage, she and Reedus are currently engaged.
We’ve been wondering, what do you think about Kruger and Jackson’s breakup?
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