Kaley Cuoco married Ryan Sweeting on New Year's Eve in 2013,
but they separated less than two years later. Then, in 2018, Cuoco appeared to find true love
when she married Karl Cook. Here's the truth about Kaley Cuoco and Karl Cook's marriage.
In 2013, Kaley Cuoco married tennis player Ryan Sweeting in a secret ceremony. Shortly
after the wedding, Cuoco told Cosmopolitan that she thought Sweeting was "the one." However,
the couple split in 2015, and their divorce was finalized in May 2016. In a subsequent interview,
Cuoco explained that her first marriage made her extremely cautious, as she told Cosmopolitan,
"I honestly thought I wouldn’t get married again. My ex ruined that
word for me. I married someone the first time who completely changed. The person I
ended up with was not the person I originally met. And that wasn’t my
fault — that was his. I knew how much I had to give and how much I wanted to receive."
Despite her difficult first experience with wedlock, Cuoco eventually found a
new partner that she could rely on in Karl Cook. She told the publication,
"I had to go through a lot of things, but it brought me to Karl.”
Looks like patience paid off in the end.
Kaley Cuoco first met Karl Cook at a horse show. Cuoco loves horses, and has experience
competing in equestrian competitions, while Cook is a professional horseman. Basically,
it was a match made in heaven. She gushed in an interview with People,
"It was totally meant to be. We were pretty much a good match from the beginning. [...] We
share so much love for animals — we love horses and we love the sport."
Cuoco was immediately intrigued by Cook's way with horses,
and praised his patient and gentle approach to the animals. The actress told People,
"I think anyone who works with animals has to have a kind soul [...] It’s almost like
he’s the horse whisperer. He is just wonderful with them.
It’s really beautiful to see that patience he has with them [...] he’s so gentle."
According to Women's Health, Cook didn't care that Cuoco was a famous actress when they first met,
and he'd never even watched The Big Bang Theory. As a result, he wasn't super
starstruck or a total fanboy. Instead, Cook was more charmed by Cuoco's love of horses.
Kaley Cuoco and Karl Cook officially started dating in March of 2016.
However, as Cuoco shared with Us Weekly,
"I don’t think it was love at first sight for us [...] We had met and
it was like a weird meeting. It kind of happened later."
Even though it took Cuoco a little while to warm to Cook,
pretty soon, they were inseparable. In April 2016,
Cuoco posted an adorable selfie on Instagram of herself with Cook and captioned the sweet snap,
"That's what happy looks like."
At the very beginning of their relationship, Kaley Cuoco and Karl Cook discovered that they had a lot
in common. In addition to their adoration of horses, the pair found that they shared
similar temperaments, as well as flaws. Cuoco revealed in an interview with Women's Health,
"We bonded a lot over having the same kind of outlooks on life, insecurities, dating."
Given how badly Cuoco had been burned by partners in the past,
she's fiercely independent. Fortunately, that's not an issue for Cook,
as he has an independent spirit all his own. Cuoco continued,
"I don’t need Karl for anything. If Karl left me tomorrow, I’d be fine.
And he knows that, and he would be fine too."
In 2017, Karl Cook popped the big question to Kaley Cuoco,
and the wedding proposal is guaranteed to make you cry. Cook posted Cuoco's adorable,
tearful reaction on Instagram for the whole world to see.
The next year, Cook and Cuoco married in a beautiful, intimate, at-home ceremony,
complete with magnificent fairy-light displays,
and tasteful white decor. In photos of the wedding, the couple can be seen walking down
the makeshift aisle in the garden, and kissing in the decorated horse stables where they later
held their intimate wedding meal. There's no doubt about it, Cuoco and Cook's rustic,
on-brand wedding was an absolutely perfect expression of their unique love for each other.
After their perfect wedding, Kaley Cuoco and Karl Cook had a curve ball thrown their way.
Instead of jetting off on a romantic holiday, the couple had to stay at home, as Cuoco needed
shoulder surgery just four days after they tied the knot. Luckily, Cook was the perfect
new husband during Cuoco's recovery. As Cuoco explained on The Late Late Show with James Corden,
her arm was completely immobile after the surgery, so Cook had to do her hair for her.
"I could not lift my arm at all, so he did my hair. He did a lot of top knots in my hair."
Cook also posted a hilarious image of Cuoco frowning in her hospital bed on Instagram.
But don't worry, as Cook and Cuoco didn't spend their real honeymoon in an actual hospital.
According to a post on Cuoco's Instagram page, the couple got their dream honeymoon in Switzerland,
five months after the wedding.
In addition to having a passion for horses, Kaley Cuoco and Karl Cook are fond of other
animals as well. To that end, the couple have more pets than your average family,
thanks to Cuoco's big heart and Cook's unwavering support. Cuoco
dished on all the details about their home zoo on an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live.
"We have so many dogs right now, and the funny thing is,
you have caught us at a moment when every single one of them is asleep."
Cook and Cuoco also have at least eight rescue rabbits, and apparently they've even adopted
two pigs. Needless to say, these two animal lovers were pretty lucky to find each other,
as less devoted people would struggle to live with so many animals.
While Penny on The Big Bang Theory decided against having children, things might end differently
for Kaley Cuoco. In fact, Cuoco has said that she fully intends to start a family with Karl Cook one
day. In 2018, when asked by Entertainment Tonight if she's ready for children, she responded,
"I’m not quite there yet but I know that I will be 'cause I love kids.
But I’m a worker bee right now — kind of my career is my focus and my husband. But,
we love kids and we love animals so we’re meant to have children."
Two years later, Cuoco talked about the prospect of having kids again on her
Instagram page. While discussing her dog's bad bathroom behavior,
she wondered if parenting would be a similar experience. She mused,
"Is this a view into the future of what our kids would be like?"
Cuoco then explained that she thinks Cook will be the easygoing parent,
while she will be the one who has to put her foot down.
When it comes to their day-to-day life, Kaley Cuoco and Karl Cook look to be anything but
bored with each other. In fact, they always seem to get into all kinds of mischief,
and share it with the world. Both Cuoco and Cook have social media accounts,
on which they frequently post videos of their antics, and give us a peek into their home life.
In one hilarious Instagram video, Cuoco tries out her own version of the patience challenge on Cook.
Originally, the challenge showed dogs and babies struggling to wait for a treat. In
Cuoco's version, Cook is seen desperately struggling to wait for a glass of bourbon.
In another Instagram post, Cuoco and Cook are snuggling with one of their dogs,
who's making a hilarious face. It's pretty clear that this duo is constantly having fun together.
While everything seems to be going well for Cuoco and Cook, they're often the subject of tabloid
articles, which doesn't sound especially pleasant. For example, in 2016, Star falsely reported that
they were planning on separating. Then, in 2018, another false story made the rounds, claiming that
Cuoco was planning on getting pregnant. Gossip Cop verified that both sources were inaccurate.
In a 2019 Instagram story, Cuoco made it clear that any tabloid claims about her
marriage should be taken with a grain of salt. She apparently then quipped to her husband,
"Can you please pay attention to me? You know, the world thinks we're getting a divorce."
One of the many things that Kaley Cuoco and Karl Cook have in common is their love of social media.
Both are pretty active on various platforms, but it's on Instagram that the playful,
teasing nature of their relationship really comes to life. Cuoco revealed
that Instagram shaming is just a part of their relationship, as she told E! News,
"If we want to Instagram shame each other,
[we] Instagram shame each other. It just makes life really fun."
There are plenty of examples of the couple poking fun at each other on Instagram, especially from
Cook, who seems to love posting embarrassing shots of his wife. For instance, in 2019, he
posted several images of his wife fast asleep with their puppy. And while the photos are definitely
super cute, they aren't exactly glamorous. Then in another hilarious post, Cook shared an
incriminating video of Cuoco asleep in the car on her way home from her shoulder surgery, and wrote,
"[Kaley Cuoco] snoring like a distressed walrus. I love you so much honey but wow!"
One of the most talked about aspects of Kaley Cuoco and Karl Cook's relationship is the
fact that the couple lived separately at the beginning of their marriage.
Cuoco explained that while their setup was definitely unconventional,
it was what worked best for them. The actress told E! News,
"We have a very unconventional marriage, you know, we have different locations that we’re
at a lot [...] You know, we’re not together every single day and I think, personally,
it’s important, it works well for us. [...] We’re building our dream house.
We’re eventually going to be under the same roof forever."
"I made headlines saying that we don't live together yet and people went crazy."
In an episode of the podcast Brad Behavior,
Cuoco went into more detail about their unusual living situation and revealed,
"The older I get, I know now what works for me [...] Even when Karl and I met,
and I knew I was totally in love with him and we wanted to get married,
we both really like our own lives and we actually like our own couches."
Even though Cuoco and Cook chose to live separately during the beginning of their marriage,
they ended up moving in together in 2020 due to the stay-at-home order during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Cuoco shared on an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live,
"This quarantine has forced us to actually move in together. It's been great for our
relationship. And we like each other, we realized, which is even better."
We're so glad to hear that their marriage is still
going strong now that they're living under the same roof.
It certainly appears that the relationship between Kaley Cuoco and Karl Cook is incredibly grown-up
and mature, even if they do spend a lot of their time goofing around on social media. Arguably,
one of the most sophisticated aspects of their union is the fact that Cuoco has
maintained her independence, as has Cook. The actress spoke to Women's Health about
the way she balances her marriage with her own needs. While Cuoco loves having Cook around,
she doesn't feel like she'll wither up and die when she's alone, as she explained,
"I want to see him [...] I like knowing, though, that I’m [financially] set, because I’ve taken it
upon myself to do that. I like to tell my friends, ‘Always make sure you have your life going,
and that you’re number one, so that anyone who comes into it — husband, or boyfriend,
or girlfriend, however you roll — that’s just an added bonus to something you’re already creating."
Plus, Cuoco remains down to earth about how she met her husband, and the fact that
he isn't influenced by her fame. The star of The Wedding Ringer told Women's Health,
"It was great because [...] he never cared about any of that.
He loved that I loved horses. It became a big talking point for us."
After her previously tumultuous love life,
we're so glad that Cuoco has such a healthy marriage with a lovely guy.
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