New Jersey rockstar hero Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea Hurley, have been married for 35 years. In fact, their 35th wedding anniversary was on Monday, April 29. In honor of their anniversary (not really, lol), Jon’s been giving some personal interviews lately. Jon’s promoting his documentary, Thank You Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, which is streaming on Hulu. Last week, Jon told The Independent that he hadn’t been “a saint” during their marriage, admitting that he indulged in the “wonderful clichés of rock stardom.” (Psst, he meant groupies.) Dorothea and Jon have four children together, Stephanie, 30, Jesse, 29, Jake, 21 (engaged to Millie Bobbie Brown), and Romeo, 20. In an interview with ABC’s Michael Strahan earlier this week, Jon elaborated a bit more on his past infidelities, explaining, “I’m a rock ‘n’ roll star.”
Jon Bon Jovi has more to confess. After making headlines for saying he was not a “saint” in his marriage to his high school sweetheart, Dorothea Hurley, the rock star admitted to getting “away with murder.”
Bon Jovi, 62, spoke to Michael Strahan about his early days in the music industry during ABC’s “Halfway There” special Monday, joking that he was “not saying that there weren’t 100 girls in [his] life” at the time.
“I’m a rock ‘n’ roll star. I’m not a saint,” he said. “I’m Jon Bon Jovi. It was pretty good.
“But if you think I was ever going to jeopardize … anything for believing the narcissist in me was real? What a stupid thing to do. What kind of excesses does a man need that’s going to fuel that fire? It’s just not worth it.”
The Grammy winner went on to praise Hurley, 61, for not being “afraid to call [him] out on something.”
However, he added, “She’s also there when I fall. And I’m there for her when she falls. No matter where I went in my career, the ups or the downs, we went there together.”
The couple began dating in 1980, four years before the release of Bon Jovi’s eponymous first album. The duo briefly split in 1985 before reconciling and eventually eloping in Las Vegas in 1989. Bon Jovi and the karate instructor share four children — Stephanie, 30, Jesse, 29, Jake, 21, and Romeo, 20 — with the third making headlines for his 2023 engagement to “Stranger Things” star Millie Bobby Brown.
While sharing marriage advice for the young couple with “Good Morning America” viewers Thursday, the “Livin’ on a Prayer” singer said “every day is a challenge and a change.”
He encouraged Jake and Brown, 20, to focus on “growing together.”
Okay, so, what goes on between Jon and Dorothea in terms of the rules and terms of their marriage is obviously strictly their business. It sounds like Dorothea knows exactly who she married, has come to terms with it, and accepts Jon for all of his weaknesses and flaws. And if that works for them, then power to them. They clearly still love each other 35 years and hundreds of female groupies later. That said, I would be sooo pissed if my husband and I had an agreement like that and he kept giving interviews alluding to how much he cheated on me while simultaneously praising me. If anything, I’d probably want to be a part of any of that kind of talk, similar to how Oliver Hudson’s wife was a part of his big infidelity confessions. This isn’t the first time Jon’s alluded to being unfaithful, either. He’s done it several times in past interviews, too. No one’s marriage is perfect, but I really hope she’s okay with all of this sharing.
Photos credit: Cat Morley/Chris Taylor/WENN/Dennis Van Tine/Avalon, Backgrid