The Story of Sylvester Stallone, Who Had a Tough Journey to Find the Love of His Life but Whose Struggles Paid Off
Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin have been married for 22 years. And although now we can call their marriage happy, their love story wasn`t always perfect. The road to where they are now was rocky, but their relationship has been going strong for a very long time. And we can only hope that this beautiful couple stays together even longer!
We at Bright Side have taken a look at Sylvester Stallone’s and Jennifer Flavin’s love story. Let’s see how their relationship evolved!
Before Jennifer
In 1974, when Sylvester Stallone was 28, he married photographer Sasha Czack. Together they had 2 sons, Sage and Seargeoh. The marriage lasted 10 years, and in 1985 the couple got divorced.
Almost a year later, Stallone married model and actress Brigitte Nielsen. They had only known each other for a couple of months, and from the very beginning Brigitte felt it was too early for them to get married, but Stallone begged her to. Their marriage lasted for only 2 years.
How it all began
In 1988, Sylvester Stallone, 42 and twice divorced, met Jennifer Flavin, who was 19 at the time, in a Beverly Hills restaurant and they started dating.
“I’d come over, and we’d watch a movie, cook dinner, goof around with the dog, or walk on the beach,” says Flavin. Stallone would also spend time with Jennifer and her family in their home in the San Fernando Valley. Being with Jennifer seemed to do Stallone good. “I’m loving life again,” he told the Toronto Star. “Jennifer has made all the difference.”
However, their relationship wasn`t perfect. “When we come together, it is wonderful,” Stallone said in 1991. “When we are separate, there are no strings attached. That’s the way it is. No strings.”
Here`s what Jennifer had to say about this: “I’m not naive about what may go on when I’m not around — he’s a 45-year-old man — I can’t change the way he is.” “Still, he’s not a cheating dog every day of the week. We spend 5 out of 7 nights together, so I don’t know where he’d find the time.”
Flavin would often hear rumors about Stallone being unfaithful to her. But she wanted to see the best in him and to believe him when he said he was innocent. She said, “I know he loves me. So it was never an issue.”
An unexpected breakup
In 1994, however, Stallone ended their relationship via FedEx. He sent her a 6-page letter dumping her after more than 5 years together.
Jennifer was devastated when she received that letter. “I cried a lot. I called all my friends. And I cleaned my apartment about 5 times. I had so many pictures and things to get rid of.”
She was also disappointed that Stallone couldn`t break up with her face-to-face and instead just sent her a letter. “You can’t just write somebody off in a letter after 6 years. It’s not like I was going to try to beg him to come back to me or anything. I just wanted to talk.”
She later learned from her agent that Stallone had been having an affair with model Janice Dickinson, who gave birth to a daughter in 1994 that Stallone thought was his.
But this tough breakup didn`t leave her resentful. “Everybody thinks I should still be upset,” — she says, — “But since the news I’ve just been carrying on with my life. I mean, we broke up, and it’s a major part of my life. It was hurtful, but you learn by your mistakes, and you pick up the pieces and carry on.”
Later a DNA test proved that Stallone wasn`t the father of Janice Dickinson`s daughter and the relationship ended. He then dated several other models and even got engaged to Angie Everhart, but their relationship didn`t last.
And they lived happily ever after.
In 1995, Jennifer and Sylvester got back together, welcomed their first daughter Sophia in 1996 and got married in 1997.
In a statement, Stallone said: “I have had 2 great things happen to me in the past year: the birth of our beautiful daughter Sophia Rose and now my marriage to Jennifer, who is a great mother and I know will be a wonderful wife.”
Jennifer and Sylvester, who currently live in Los Angeles, have 3 daughters together.
“I’ve never had more fun. I learned that from my wife… It took me 19 years to realize she’s always right. I realized that women have a knack, at least Jennifer, for making incredibly erudite, wise, smart decisions. I always leap without looking. She always looks and never leaps. She’s incredibly safe. So now finally, I say: ’Honey, you make all the decisions. Done, done, done. I trust you.’ I never had that before. Ever.”
Did you know Sylvester Stallone`s love story? Do you know anyone whose relationship didn`t start out perfect but ended up well and strong? We`d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
Preview photo credit jenniferflavinstallone / Instagram, jenniferflavinstallone / Instagram