While celebrity breakups are common in Hollywood, the news that Joshua Jackson and Jodie Turner-Smith are divorcing still managed to be quite a surprise.
Citing “irreconcilable differences,” the Queen & Slim actress, 37, filed for divorce from the Fatal Attraction star, 45, earlier this week, People reported. The former duo, who share a 3-year-old daughter, Juno, is staying mum about their split in the press. However, there has been intense speculation about what happened between the two stars, who were known for frequently sharing posts about each other on social media. Here’s everything to know about their relationship.
How did Joshua Jackson meet Jodie Turner-Smith?
Jackson rose to fame portraying Pacey Witter in the beloved WB teen series Dawson’s Creek. Though he didn’t meet Turner-Smith until 2018, when they crossed paths for the first time at Usher’s 40th birthday party, the Queen & Slim star was a longtime fan of the actor.
During an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2021, Turner-Smith revealed that while that evening was the first time they had ever met, she had fancied Jackson all the way back in his Dawson’s days. The couple soon found themselves head-over-heels for each other.
“When I first met my husband, we had a one-night stand,” the actress told Meyers. “We’re in a two, three-year one-night stand now.”
The duo made their relationship Instagram official in 2019. “Two people who only fancy each other a little bit,” Turner-Smith captioned a photo of the two staring into each other’s eyes as they sat outside.
Their engagement and marriage
While appearing on The Tonight Show in 2021, Jackson opened up about how Turner-Smith proposed to him during a getaway. He said he knew it was meant to be “the moment she asked me.”
“She asked me, yeah, on New Year’s Eve,” Jackson explained to host Jimmy Fallon. “We were in Nicaragua. It was very beautiful, incredibly romantic. We were walking down the beach, and she asked me to marry her.”
Completely unaware that Turner-Smith would pop the question, Jackson said he recognized in an instant it was the right decision.
“There was like a preamble. There was a lead-up to it. I did not know [about it beforehand], but she was quite adamant, and she was right,” he recalled. “This is the best choice I ever made.”
They went on to marry in the following year and continued to frequently share their feelings for each other in the press.
“I think it’s really beautiful to be with someone who is so supportive and so loving,” Turner-Smith told People in 2021. “We’re so similar in so many ways. We’re like mirrors for each other. And I just really love that human being.”
The birth of their daughter
In April 2020, the couple welcomed a daughter, Juno. Citing the Center for Disease Control and Prevention statistics that show the risk of pregnancy-related deaths is more than three times greater for Black women than white women, the duo decided to skip the hospital and instead have a home birth.
“Delivering at home ensured that I had what every single woman deserves to have: full agency in determining my birth support,” Turner-Smith told British Vogue at the time.
While speaking with Elle, Turner explained that she initially resisted having children with Jackson, but ultimately decided it was the right decision.
“I fell in love with my husband and we talked about having kids. To decide not to have a child with somebody you love, just because they’re white, was insane to me,” she said.
Turner-Smith also noted that having a child with Jackson has actually been a healing experience for her personally.
“Now that I’ve got this little, tiny, light-skinned boss, I feel like it’s the universe teaching me lessons,” said Turner-Smith. “I’ve been given a daughter who looks this way to heal my own conversations around colorism.”
Going forward, the former couple will split joint custody of the 3-year-old, People reported.
Their last days as a couple
Just last month, Jackson and Turner-Smith appeared alongside each other at the COS Autumn/Winter 2023 runway show during New York Fashion Week.
It was a scene that was reminiscent of their past when the couple was known for frequently sharing about each other on social media.
In March of 2022, Turner-Smith set the Internet ablaze with a revealing post taken as the couple prepared to hit the red carpet at the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards. Standing naked on a balcony with a tux-clad Jackson clutching her from behind, Turner-Smith captioned the photo with “The cat that got the cream.”
