A bound-to-become-famous TV actress meets a country singer. The two fall in love,
get married, adopt, and have a family. She is on a wildly successful show and wins an Emmy,
while his songs hit the charts. Sounds like an idyllic affair,
right? Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley's marriage still stands strong 15 years later,
but the couple has had to overcome trauma and endure their fair share of media drama.
The actress first met the songwriter in 2005, when she played his love interest
in the music video for his song "Only You". Although Josh was interested,
he chose to play it cool, making Katherine feel very frustrated. Finally, the TV star
decided to use a strategy to gain Kelley's love: making him jealous of fellow musician John Mayer.
In an interview with Meredith Viera, the actress explained she had met the pop
star at the same time she met her future husband and sometimes hung out with him.
"I completely used John to get Josh to commit. These musicians, they are so competitive and
jealous of each other," Heigl explained. While the songwriter was on tour, she called him and said,
"I just want to know where we stand because if not, I might try to pursue something with John."
Apparently, her trick worked, and the pair started dating. The actress jokingly said that she didn't
confess her antics to Josh until they were a year into marriage. "I was like, 'You got played!'."
The couple dated for two years until Josh proposed, and they got married in 2007.
Before the ceremony, Katherine enjoyed a "really feminine and small" bridal shower
with some friends. The lovebirds also held a rehearsal before the ceremony. But even if
everything looked like it was taken straight out of a fairytale, the actress remained realistic.
A year after her wedding, she told Vanity Fair that marriage
was "a crapshoot" and that she knew the odds were really bad. However, she later added,
"I have a lot of faith in Josh, and I wanted to have that one day when I
stand in front of my friends and my family and honor him and how important he is in my life."
But let's get back to the ceremony! The wedding happened in December and was held in a small tent
at a scenic ski resort in Utah, where light snow was falling over the beautiful views.
Although it was a very private moment, some of Heigl's Grey's Anatomy co-stars were present,
including Sandra Oh, Kate Walsh, and T.R Knight, who described the event as "incredible and
beautiful". This makes sense since everything was decorated with white flowers and candles
illuminating the snow. The bridesmaids wore red in contrast to the white decoration.
The wedding was not only visually beautiful, but it was also very sentimental. The bride
and groom wrote their own vows, and Kelley also wrote an acoustic guitar song for Heigl
to walk down the aisle. A guitar and a cello player performed the melody.
The country musician later opened up about marriage to People magazine,
saying that it essentially consisted of showing someone you love that you're
capable of the ultimate commitment. "We're madly in love and she makes me excited to
become married and to have a family and spend my life with someone," Josh said,
adding that he and Katherine were opposite in some aspects but shared the same values.
One of these values was related to cheating. The couple agreed that infidelity would mean
the end of their marriage. However, the actress couldn't help but question this.
"I've seen friends and acquaintances go through it and they've found a way back
to the relationship, and a way to forgive each other," she told Cosmopolitan UK.
However, the TV star quickly explained that she takes infidelity very seriously. "I would
kill him if he cheated because it would destroy me," she shared before adding,
"if a mistake were to be made and it was a one-time thing, I would forgive
him. Because look at the life we've built together. We have history, we have a child."
It's nice that the stars can rethink things for each other. And yes, they do in fact have a family
together. In 2009, they adopted a little girl from South Korea; in 2013 they adopted domestically.
Heigl revealed that she always wanted to adopt since one of her siblings was adopted as well.
However, she knew that adoption comes with challenges. In 2021,
the actress told Parents magazine that, now that the girls had gotten older,
they were asking more questions about her birth families. She and her husband are open
to giving them as much or as little information as they want. "I need to protect my daughters and
prepare them for the world, because I can't change society in one fell swoop," the star explained.
In 2016, there was a new addition to the family when Heigl's son was born. In July of that year,
the actress released a statement to People Magazine, saying, "Josh and I
are overflowing with joy and gratitude." Then, in December, her son was born. Heigl has since
opened up about being pregnant, saying she is grateful for the experience. Mainly because,
if it hadn't happened by surprise, she's not sure that she would have done it.
The Grey's Anatomy alum has discussed the dynamics in her family, revealing that Kelley is
more laid back, while she is constantly fighting anxiety because of a tragedy in her childhood.
Heigl lost her brother in a car accident when she was only 8 years old.
The actress told Today Parents that the more she loves her children, the greater her worry about
losing them is. Her biggest fear is suffering the loss of a beloved child like her parents did. "The
idea of loving my children the way I did terrified me. Because it could be all taken away. I have
witnessed the worst thing that can happen to a parent happen to my parents," the TV star said.
Something that helped Heigl was talking to her mother about how she got through
the loss of her son. "I've come to understand that you can survive it,
and it doesn't negate the worthwhile love," the actress revealed.
The Emmy winner loves her family dearly, which has helped her through some rough times. During
her last seasons in Grey's Anatomy, Katherine started to be seen as difficult to work with.
This was in part due to her 2008 withdrawal from the Emmy awards. She withdrew her
name because she did not feel she had been given the material to warrant a nomination
and did not want to take the opportunity away from an actress who had been given that
material. Of course, the audience did not receive this well since it suggested that
the writers of Grey's Anatomy had not done a proper job with her character.
In Lynette Rice's book: How to save a life, the story of Grey's Anatomy,
the actress opened up about the scandal. Some time had passed,
and she had come to understand that she was in the wrong. "I thought I was doing the
right thing. It was between me and the writers. I ambushed them, and it wasn't very nice or fair."
Shonda Rhimes , the creator of Grey's Anatomy and one of television's most influential
personalities, also spoke about the scandal on Oprah Winfrey's show. The showrunner said that,
even if the statement stung, it did not surprise her. She added,
"When people show you who they are, believe them."
In the book, Heigl also opened up about her desire to focus on family instead of work,
explaining that going on family leave changed her whole perspective. She then spoke to Shonda
about leaving the show and waited at home until she was given the formal OK to leave.
"The rumors that I refused to return were totally untrue," the actress said. She
explained that Shonda tried to find a schedule that worked,
but it wasn't possible without it negatively affecting the cast and crew of the show. "It
wasn't feeling fair to them or the show to ask them to bend around my needs," Katherine added.
However, not everyone agrees on this version of the events. Unnamed sources
told Rice that "Heigl wanted out because it was so hard working with Shonda." An
anonymous former ABC Studio executive revealed that Rhimes and ABC wanted to "get her out".
The actress concluded by saying that what she most regrets from all the drama was
being perceived as ungrateful. "That is my fault. I allowed myself to be perceived
that way," she confessed. Katherine explained that humility and gratitude are essential for
her and that she was disappointed in herself for not showing them.
After her time on the ABC show was over, Heigl went on to perform in a
series of romantic comedies and, of course, enjoy time with her family.
She even directed a music video for her husband's song "It's your move"!
The Suits actor has also talked about her marriage several times. In 2014, she told US Weekly,
"I think that we just really enjoy each other. He's kind of my best friend." However,
she was aware this could be tricky at times since they ran the risk of the relationship
becoming too much of a friendship and not enough of a romance. Heigl also revealed
a side of Kelley she enjoyed: "I laugh at all his jokes. I think he's really funny."
Katherine then got serious and shared the biggest component of her relationship:
communication. She shared that there had been a rough patch in the marriage.
"That doesn't mean there was a lack of communication. It was just a lack of hearing,
and it was assuming what the other person meant and needed or wanted," she explained.
The family is still strong today, and they are obviously delighted with each other. The
TV star has shared some tributes on Instagram over the years. In a 2019 caption celebrating
their 12th anniversary, she wrote, "This man … this day … this marriage … I am damn grateful.
That he found me. That I found him. That we have somehow miraculously bettered each other."
It seems like the couple will continue to stand together amidst all the chaos and drama
of Hollywood. Here at Rumour Juice, we wish them and their children the happiest time together.