John McEnroe's secret Hawaii wedding with famous rockstar who swore off marriage

Publish date: 2024-05-29

The US Open commentator and the singer tied the knot during the Oscars in 1997

John McEnroe's famous wife Patty Smyth admitted that she "did not believe in marriage" before secretly tying the knot with the former professional tennis player in 1997.

The ESPN commentator for the US Open met the former 80s rock band Scandal star in their mid-30s after splitting from their ex-partners. John welcomed children Kevin, 37, Sean, 35, and Emily, 32, with his first wife Tatum O'Neal, while Patty had daughter Ruby, 37, with Richard Hell.

After crossing paths at a Christmas party in 1993, Patty admitted that she "wasn't interested" in pursuing a relationship with John, but that all changed after their first date eight months later.

"I did not believe in love or marriage. I wasn't interested," she told AARP The Magazine. "I had a great life. I thought I might adopt a child because I only had Ruby and she kept telling me one wasn't enough. There were no guys I liked. I was like, forget it, it's not going to happen, and I was all right with that.”

The No Mistakes singer admitted that John was invested in the relationship slightly earlier than herself, and she was loathed to publicly discuss their union in case she "jinxed it."

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"When John and I went out on a date, it was like I knew him. It was familiar and exciting. He knew it was something to hold onto sooner than I did," she said.

In a bid to keep their love life private, John and Patty got married in Hawaii at the same time as the Oscars in 1997 "so nobody would notice." They have never released any details or photos of their ceremony.

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After taking a step back from her music career to welcome their children Anna, 27, and Ava, 24, Patty released the song Build a Fire which shared an insight into her "emotional and sensual" marriage with John.  

"A lot of people bail before getting to a real deep emotional and sensual place. You have to be with someone a long time before you get that, and there's something super erotic about that closeness. It's not important in some relationships. It matters in ours," Patty continued.

The singer later told People she considers their privacy the secret to their happy marriage. "I just thought if I kept it on the down-low, I had this gut feeling that we would stay together - if I threw it out to the world, that we wouldn't - because I've seen that happen so many times," the singer said.

Meanwhile, seven-time Grand Slam champion John credits their happy relationship to their mutual encouragement to be their authentic selves. "My present wife, who I have been with almost 28 years, finally I feel like allowed me to be me, which I think is important in a relationship. If you can have that, you feel like it's already a success," he said on The Empire Film Podcast.

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