I don’t know how gossipworthy this story is, but we’ll see. Patrick Dempsey and his wife, Jillian Fink, announced their divorce on Friday afternoon. This is surprising because they’re so low key. He’s done his thing on Grey’s Anatomy for 10 years and races cars in his spare time. But there are long-standing rumors about him stepping out on Jillian at the gym, at bars, at wherever for years. Kaiser and I spoke about this. She believes they had an open marriage. It sounds like Jillian has had enough and wants out.
Jillian filed papers when Patrick was out of town and racing. They were married 15 years and have three children. TMZ reports that there is no prenup, and “it remains to be seen whether it will be amicable.” Their sources say Jillian has issues with Patrick’s “out of control ego,” and “she’s all about the kids.” TMZ updated their post with a much nicer joint statement that falls in line with People’s announcement:
Patrick Dempsey and his wife, Jillian Fink, are divorcing after 15 years of marriage.
“It is with careful consideration and mutual respect that we have decided to end our marriage,” the couple tells PEOPLE in an exclusive statement. “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.”
Dempsey and Fink have three children: Tallulah Fyfe, 12, and twins Sullivan Patrick and Darby Galen, 7.
The Grey’s Anatomy star, 49, was in Daytona Beach, Florida, for a 24-hour racing event when his wife filed for divorce. “She was the one to encourage me to go and drive,” Dempsey told PEOPLE in 2007.
“Her influence was profound. Jill just gets me to believe in my dreams — and act upon them,” he said at the time.
[From People]
Jillian reportedly wants joint custody, so there shouldn’t be much drama in that department. The money part will get messy with no prenup, but I hope they can keep things civil. Patrick’s first divorce was acrimonious, to say the least.
This brings me to one of the odder bits of Dempsey trivia. When he was 21, he married 48-year-old Rochelle “Rocky” Parker, his manager (and best friend’s mom) at the time. You can see a photo of Patrick and Rocky (with full-on Duggar hair) here. Their marriage lasted 7 years, which makes me wonder how Sam & Aaron Taylor-Johnson will fare someday.
Anyway. I wish Jillian and Patrick well. It always sucks when a family breaks up, but maybe they’ll both find what they need by being apart.
Photos courtest of WENN
Aww shame. Divorce new are always sad. Specially if they have been married for long.
I don’t know much about him, but one of the things I like most about Patrick is his honesty in what he thinks about his job, he’s said before that it’s a good employment, and he doesn’t enjoy it as he used to in the beginning. but being in one of the biggest, most stable tv shows is a good steady paycheck. And he gets to do his favorite things in his off time: Racing.
He seems much more realistic than , say, Katherine Heigl.
Anyway… all the best to his family. I hope it doesn’t get messy.
He’s so fine. Sorry to hear they are divorcing.
I don’t know why I care but I was hoping you would cover this. I don’t think many people will say they are surprised. His wife looks pretty unhappy for years judging from pictures.
Wonder if he will go from generations older when he was 21, same generation in 30s and 40s to generation younger in 50s?
Came here to say the same thing! Fans of Grey’s Anatomy have been watching her get more and more miserable by the year for a long time. But they did seem to have a good partnership – Patrick helped her set up her business and shilled a lot for it with his amazing hair, while she was the one who helped restart his career IIRC.
There was a rumour he’s been seeing or attracted to some singer and an affair took place I have no clue if any of that is valid, but that was a rumour.
Yeah I noticed that she never looked happy in any of the pics. She has resting bitch face for sure. It’s sad. I thought their marriage will last. 🙁
Yikes! That picture of him with his best friend’s mother freaks me out. I feel sorry for his best friend. Ew.
Triple ew.
Stacy’s mom has got it going on…..
It creeped me out, too, I thought I remembered him being with a much older woman when he was young, but I thought maybe she didn’t look that old or something. Nope. She looked like a 48 year old woman.
F***, that’s super creepy! Nothing against the woman, but it’s really unlikely to go for a woman that age at his age, especially when she looks exactly like her age. Wonder what the problem is with him, there must be one.
Mommy issues?
I’d say she looks older than her age. She looks like his grandma in that picture. I had forgotten how weird that relationship seemed at the time. Tom Cruise and Mimi Rogers were together around that time, but Mimi was gorgeous. That is really the only similar touchstone that I can think of from that time. It is probably hard for the young ones to remember, but back then Patrick was not considered a hottie either so maybe that had something to do with it.
Definitely mommy issues. And even if he wasn’t considered a hottie back then, it’s still weird.
Wasn’t Mimi Rogers only seven years older than Tom Cruise? That age gap is much less weird.
Rumours were she was his manager, worked her way into his life, his head, his bed….and she was a total control freak. Tried to totally control him.
Not only did she look older than her age, Patrick looked like he was a teenager until he hit his thirties. Super creepy. He looked eighteen, and she looked like Mama, from Mama’s family.
He was a kid, she the “adult”, I give her the side eye for scamming on her son’s friend.
Yeah, it makes the Taylor-Johnsons look much closer in age. Sam doesn’t look nearly as “mom-like,” imo.
She looks somewhat more cougar’esque. Plus she is a talented director, so see why there is some attraction.
Taylor and Johnson thing is still creepy, I don’t care how good she looks. It just creeps me out, still.
Wow. That picture kind of shocked me. If it was April fools day I’d think we were being trolled.
If she was a hot 48.<erold, how would that be better? It's still equally creepy.
I don’t think it would be better, but I think people might be less bewildered as to how he was attracted to her. It’s pretty unusual for young guys to be attracted to 48 year olds who look like that, as opposed to maybe a 48 year old Kim Cattrall or Diane Lane (although I don’t know how common that is either?). To make things equal, I really don’t get what she saw in him either, just by virtue of him being so, so young (not because I think he was super ugly or anything, although he’s way better looking now since he looks like a fully grown and virile man in his 40s). I wonder what his own mom thought of her. Maybe she and the best friend could have gotten a discount on therapy together.
Falling for and marrying a much, much older (27 years older is huge) matronly-looking woman when he was 21 doesn’t compute for me. I would get it if it were someone like Marisa Tomei, who is 50 years old (I can’t believe it), and looks about 35 and has a youthful vitality to her, intelligent and not trying to be young, but still has an adorableness about her.
Patrick is so handsome. He got so much better looking after 35, wow he is so gorgeous now.
I feel sad for them the the marriage didn’t work out. For some reason I thought they were happy. Didn’t know much about her though.
OK , did anyone hear a rumour floating that he has been seeing some singer?
I only read it on some gossipy site so it may be b.s.
Patrick is 49 now, so had they stayed together his “wife” would be 76 years old!!
Does make you wonder about the Taylor-Johnsons. Their situation is different because Sam is more cougar looking and the issue of children has already been sorted out (they have two daughters together). However when Aaron is 35 and still at the physical peak of his career and Sam is 58, will the passion between still be the burning bright? Or will all the other woman his age and younger that throw themselves at him be too much of a temptation?
35 and 58 is nothing. Try 47, when the midlisfe crisis tends to hit, and 70.
What hasn’t been sorted out for the Taylor -Johnson scenario may be the 18yr ,having to grow up and go through certain emotional stages as a young adult on his own. Those stages will come to the surface whether it’s now or when he hits 28 or 38, …..and it won’t be pretty for wifey.
I saw a similar thing with a neighbor, and all hell broke loose ,marriage broke Dow , ended when the young guy started to mature and wanted to do things as an individual..and they had a child too.
Juliette Mills was 39 when she married 21 year old Mawell Caufield. They’ve been married for 34 years. I’m sure it’s not very common, but seems to work for these two.
@someonestolemyname Yeah that’s what I remember about the news reports too. She was his manager. She was basically managing a minor so you know she has some influence there. I don’t know whether he has mommy issues or not but he was devoted to his mother. He even fundraised for a cancer center in Maine under her name.
and that is why, as a society, we just cannot blindly accept the word of someone, when it comes to situations like this. People like “Rocky” bring us all to her level with her lies. She could have ruined him, if media had been the same back then as it is now- trial by media I refer to.
We have to rely on courts, and work to change unfair laws and statutes of limitations.
As for this new divorce, I hope the kids are ok.
Never heard any rumors from Rocky. She looks all Warren Jeffs’ sister-wife-like.
Click the link above, the highlighted one about their divorce.
She admits she lied about him abusing her.
No point to it.
OMFG Kiddo–that was my first thought….she looks like a sister-wife.
Rocky was awful.. Manager,wife all around control freak. Went ballistic, when he grew up and wanted out. Rumours were she tried to ruin his career.
I don’t know. By the time he divorced his first wife, he was no longer a household name but labeled a “has been.” I doubt the media cared at this point. I frankly think she married him for his income (he was riding the teen movie thing when they got married). Just like how Celine Dion’s hubby married her. Secured the meal ticket.
Sorry but she’s an adult. He may have married her at 21 but she was his manager when he was legally a minor. So think about it.
Something in the water because Gary Oldman filed for divorce a couple of weeks ago.
But it’s the fourth divorce for Gary Oldman
And says the age difference was a problem…….ORLY?
Nope, his wife did. And she’ll be his worth ex so it’s safe to say there’s probably something wrong with Oldman and not the water.
Four ex-wives can’t be wrong. 😀
I bet Gary Oldman would be AWFUL to be married to. He seems like a difficult human being. There are tons of stories of him harassing costars and being a general dbag on set, going years and years back.
Gary Oldman–why why why does he keep getting married again?? Some men are just bad at it along with being gluttons for punishment. Sean Bean is the same way. You’d think at some point they’d choose just to live with their girlfriend and not go through all the turmoil.
Sad for their kids. She always looked unhappy but who knows.
Yes, sad for the children.
Dempsey does the racing course 24h Du Mans in France since 2/3 years and his wife never came with him whereas he spent 3 weeks in France to prepare that
After I don’t know if his ego is out of control but apparently he lets good memories there
He’s on an hour-long drama, which I read are like 16-hour days and he’s obsessed with his racing on his off time. Not much time for her since she’s the one tied to the home with three children. It’s hard for marriages like this to survive long-term, with all the adulation he gets. Nothing kills a marriage like feeling not important or not romanced a little still. Maybe that was the problem. Who knows?
At least, she has some kind of career also, which is good, at her age 47. She is still young enough to find love again, and better than waiting until the kids graduate and she’s out there at like 57 or so.
Yep, and then the only time you REALLY get to spend with your spouse is in front of a fricking camera……that’d wear on you.
HUH. I know more about him from the racing world as I’ve never watched Grey’s Anatomy. I always thought they were a solid couple. I haven’t heard about the cheating rumors until now. I suppose even if you have an “open” marriage that’s no guarantee that it won’t get to you over time emotionally. Fifteen years and she filed when he was away…that to me is a big red flag that this could get ugly.
It doesn’t have to be a red flag. Maybe he didn’t want to deal with the American media directly after the announcement so he asked her to file while he was away? In any case, I hope it does not get ugly, for the sake of their kids. Divorce is hard enough if you’re a kid without famous parents.
Didn’t see this coming..
So, at about the 7-year mark in their marriage, she was encouraging him to go race cars? Sounds like she was hoping for a crash by now. 🙂
I haven’t had an optimistic view of open relationships. To me open means being open to something better coming along. Perhaps they did have an open marriage and eventually someone better showed up for one of them.
Agreed. My close friend was in an open relationship and it made me sad. He had no desire to step out on his partner but agreed to “hold on” to the relationship, I think. So he was monogamous and the main breadwinner…and eventually, not surprisingly, my friend got dumped for an “upgrade. Boo.
Open marriages may be ok in theory but they’re not for all. A friend had one until her husband stepped out on her..and she went ballistic.
Maybe after 15 years they decided they have nothing in common after all.
I’ve never heard of an open relationship that worked long term. Everyone I’ve personally known of has ended badly with one person being invested in the relationship and the other shopping around for a better option. Maybe there are people who can make it work but it seems like an invitation to disaster to me.
So I guess the blind was true..,,hmmm.
Which one?
He always seems like such a turd.
His first wife Rocky was rumoured to be known around Hollywood as a wack job of sorts, using herself as a manager to his career during that time, to wield a iron control over him and his young career.
Word on the street was she tried to ruin him when he wanted out of the marriage and it was Patrick who wanted out.
Rumours floated during the time of the marriage and even before they actually married, that Rocky was a nuisance on his sets, just a complete nightmare and total control freak.
Wasn’t there an article in a magazine where he admitted to infidelity in their marriage by both of them? Or am j thinking of another actor?
He can now go be with Amy Adams and my Enchanted fantasy will become complete! Giselle and whatever his name was in the movie.
More seriously though, I hope the divorce is amicable and doesn’t affect the kids too much. I always thought he had a stable marriage since his wife was non-Hollywood and he got to race cars and act and do his thing. I haven’t watched Grey’s Anatomy in years but he still looks dreamy!
Those two in Enchanted made my heart melt, when they danced together. Sigh.
Love that movie. He looks so gorgeous and Amy so beautiful!
Maddie, you’re right on the money. Dempsey said that there were infidelities on the part of both partners during his first marriage.
I’ve forgotten the name, but Dempsey made a film with Joe Pesci and Brendan Fraser. Allegedly, during that production, he was sleeping with a female crew member.
With Honors. Yeah that’s when he started looking hot. Haha.
He also had a brief but memorable scene in Outbreak. He was the first patient infected.
Why is it okay for an older man to marry a younger woman and it’s not okay for an older woman to marry a younger man? Age is relative. Love is timeless.
I’ve never really been able to decide:
Angry
Or just
HUNGRY?
But she has never looked happy.
Perhaps she’ll be after he cuts a big, fat check.