Patrick Dempsey’s leading man charm is no secret. He was a teen heartthrob in the 80s, made knees weak as Grey’s Anatomy’s Dr. Derek Shepherd in the 2000s, and is the real prize in Disney’s Enchanted and Disenchanted. Most recently, Patrick was named PEOPLE‘s “Sexiest Man Alive” of 2023. But sorry ladies – he is not single.
It’s not surprising that Patrick has found his own happily ever after. In real life, he’s enjoyed a two-plus decade romance with wife Jillian Fink. The pair have been married since 2009, but like any couple, they’ve endured their ups and downs — making them all the more relatable.
Patrick and Jillian almost called it quits in 2015, but after some serious soul-searching and marriage counseling, the couple was able to set their relationship back on track. “Our marriage was not something I was prepared to let go of,” the Bridget Jones Diary star told People in 2016. “I didn’t feel like we had done all the work. And we both wanted to do that work. That’s where it started.”
Want to know more about Patrick Dempsey’s right-hand woman? Learn everything there is to know about his wife Jillian right here.
Meet Cute & Marriage
The pair’s relationship started professionally back in 1994 when Patrick booked his future wife as his hairstylist. At the time she thought the booking was a joke and was then stunned when the Fast Times At Ridgemont High hunk showed up at her LA salon, Delux.
“I was shocked,” she admitted to People in 2002. “But at the same time, I was happy because he was so cute.”
Since both of them were in relationships at the time, the duo enjoyed “three years of occasional haircuts and harmless banter” before finally getting together in 1997. Things moved fast for the couple, who moved in together just three months into dating. They exchanged “I do’s” at his family’s Maine farmhouse in 1999.
Before Patrick got together with Jillian, he was wed to his agent and acting coach Rocky Parker, who was 26 years his senior. They were together from 1987 to 1994. She passed away in 2014.
Kids
Starting a family was the next step for Patrick and Jillian. They welcomed their first child, daughter Tallula Fyfe, in Feb. 2002. Twin boys Sullivan Patrick and Darby Galen followed five years later in February 2007.
Talking about fatherhood in 2020, Patrick told People, “I’m constantly amazed by their insight and their observations. It’s fascinating and fun to come up with answers to their questions, and the questions are getting harder!”
Almost Divorce
The couple hit a rough patch around the start of 2015, when Jillian filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences,” according to TMZ. At the time, it was reported that the beauty guru had obtained Hollywood divorce lawyer Laura Wasser and was seeking joint custody of the children. They did not have a prenup, per TMZ.
“It is with careful consideration and mutual respect that we have decided to end our marriage,” the couple told People in a statement at the time. “Our primary concern remains the wellbeing of our children, and we ask with profound gratitude that you respect our family’s privacy at this very sensitive time.”
The couple’s issues reportedly stemmed from Patrick’s over-commitment to work, both on TV and on the racetrack as a professional driver. Later, he admitted to the U.K’s Evening Standard, “You have to work at everything. And you cannot do everything. Something has to be sacrificed.”
Reconciliation
It turns out it wasn’t the end for Patrick and Jillian, who reconciled later that year. They appeared back on while holding hands in Paris in Nov. 2015. Around the same time Jillian was seen wearing her wedding ring once again.
“They’ve been going on dates and [are] trying to be a couple again,” an insider told Us Weekly at the time. The source added that Patrick “was going through a bit of a midlife crisis, but he’s snapping out of it.”
Still, it took the pair another year to officially call off the divorce. Jillian filed to have their divorce case dismissed on Nov. 4, 2016, and a judge granted their request less than a week later.
It was around the same time he decided to leave Grey’s Anatomy for good. It seemed his time on the medical drama had run out. He told People his run on the Shonda Rhimes show had gone on “long enough” in a 2016 interview.
Where They Stand Now
Since the almost-split, Patrick has focused on prioritizing his family. “You can only do one thing at a time and do it well. I [learned] to prioritize,” he admitted in a 2016 interview with People. “Our union has to be the priority. I wasn’t prepared to give up on her and she wasn’t either,” he added, saying the marriage is “much healthier.”
Their breakup was definitely a reality check for the actor. “It’s always destabilizing when you’re potentially breaking up a family or you have a big section of your life that’s ending,” he went on to tell the magazine.
Nowadays, it’s clear Patrick is more focused on his personal life than ever. The Made Of Honor star sent a loving tribute to his wife on her birthday in Feb. 2022. Sharing a sweet black and white photo of the couple on a hike, seen on People, he wrote “Happy Birthday Jill, I love you!”