A bound-to-become-famous TV actress meets
a country singer. The two fall in love, get married, adopt, and have a family. She is
on a wildly successful show and wins an Emmy, while his songs hit the charts.
Sounds like an idyllic affair, right? Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley's
marriage still stands strong 15 years later, but the couple has had to overcome trauma
and endure their fair share of media drama. The actress first met the songwriter in
2005, when she played his love interest in the music video for his song "Only
You". Although Josh was interested, he chose to play it cool, making Katherine
feel very frustrated. Finally, the TV star decided to use a strategy to gain Kelley's love:
making him jealous of fellow musician John Mayer. In an interview with Meredith Viera, the
actress explained she had met the pop star at the same time she met her future
husband and sometimes hung out with him. "I completely used John to get Josh to commit.
These musicians, they are so competitive and jealous of each other," Heigl explained. While the
songwriter was on tour, she called him and said, "I just want to know where we stand because if
not, I might try to pursue something with John." Apparently, her trick worked, and the pair started
dating. The actress jokingly said that she didn't confess her antics to Josh until they were a year
into marriage. "I was like, 'You got played!'." The couple dated for two years until Josh
proposed, and they got married in 2007. Before the ceremony, Katherine enjoyed a
"really feminine and small" bridal shower with some friends. The lovebirds also held
a rehearsal before the ceremony. But even if everything looked like it was taken straight out
of a fairytale, the actress remained realistic. A year after her wedding, she
told Vanity Fair that marriage was "a crapshoot" and that she knew the odds
were really bad. However, she later added, "I have a lot of faith in Josh, and
I wanted to have that one day when I stand in front of my friends and my family and
honor him and how important he is in my life." But let's get back to the ceremony! The wedding
happened in December and was held in a small tent at a scenic ski resort in Utah, where light
snow was falling over the beautiful views. Although it was a very private moment, some of
Heigl's Grey's Anatomy co-stars were present, including Sandra Oh, Kate Walsh, and T.R Knight,
who described the event as "incredible and beautiful". This makes sense since everything
was decorated with white flowers and candles illuminating the snow. The bridesmaids wore
red in contrast to the white decoration. The wedding was not only visually beautiful,
but it was also very sentimental. The bride and groom wrote their own vows, and Kelley
also wrote an acoustic guitar song for Heigl to walk down the aisle. A guitar and
a cello player performed the melody. The country musician later opened up
about marriage to People magazine, saying that it essentially consisted
of showing someone you love that you're capable of the ultimate commitment. "We're
madly in love and she makes me excited to become married and to have a family and
spend my life with someone," Josh said, adding that he and Katherine were opposite
in some aspects but shared the same values. One of these values was related to cheating.
The couple agreed that infidelity would mean the end of their marriage. However, the
actress couldn't help but question this. "I've seen friends and acquaintances go
through it and they've found a way back to the relationship, and a way to forgive
each other," she told Cosmopolitan UK. However, the TV star quickly explained that
she takes infidelity very seriously. "I would kill him if he cheated because it would
destroy me," she shared before adding, "if a mistake were to be made and it
was a one-time thing, I would forgive him. Because look at the life we've built
together. We have history, we have a child." It's nice that the stars can rethink things for
each other. And yes, they do in fact have a family together. In 2009, they adopted a little girl from
South Korea; in 2013 they adopted domestically. Heigl revealed that she always wanted to adopt
since one of her siblings was adopted as well. However, she knew that adoption
comes with challenges. In 2021, the actress told Parents magazine that,
now that the girls had gotten older, they were asking more questions about her
birth families. She and her husband are open to giving them as much or as little information
as they want. "I need to protect my daughters and prepare them for the world, because I can't change
society in one fell swoop," the star explained. In 2016, there was a new addition to the family
when Heigl's son was born. In July of that year, the actress released a statement to
People Magazine, saying, "Josh and I are overflowing with joy and gratitude." Then,
in December, her son was born. Heigl has since opened up about being pregnant, saying she is
grateful for the experience. Mainly because, if it hadn't happened by surprise, she's
not sure that she would have done it. The Grey's Anatomy alum has discussed the
dynamics in her family, revealing that Kelley is more laid back, while she is constantly fighting
anxiety because of a tragedy in her childhood. Heigl lost her brother in a car
accident when she was only 8 years old. The actress told Today Parents that the more she
loves her children, the greater her worry about losing them is. Her biggest fear is suffering the
loss of a beloved child like her parents did. "The idea of loving my children the way I did terrified
me. Because it could be all taken away. I have witnessed the worst thing that can happen to a
parent happen to my parents," the TV star said. Something that helped Heigl was talking
to her mother about how she got through the loss of her son. "I've come to
understand that you can survive it, and it doesn't negate the worthwhile
love," the actress revealed. The Emmy winner loves her family dearly, which
has helped her through some rough times. During her last seasons in Grey's Anatomy, Katherine
started to be seen as difficult to work with. This was in part due to her 2008 withdrawal
from the Emmy awards. She withdrew her name because she did not feel she had been
given the material to warrant a nomination and did not want to take the opportunity
away from an actress who had been given that material. Of course, the audience did not
receive this well since it suggested that the writers of Grey's Anatomy had not
done a proper job with her character. In Lynette Rice's book: How to save
a life, the story of Grey's Anatomy, the actress opened up about the
scandal. Some time had passed, and she had come to understand that she was
in the wrong. "I thought I was doing the right thing. It was between me and the writers. I
ambushed them, and it wasn't very nice or fair." Shonda Rhimes , the creator of Grey's Anatomy
and one of television's most influential personalities, also spoke about the scandal on
Oprah Winfrey's show. The showrunner said that, even if the statement stung, it
did not surprise her. She added, "When people show you who they are, believe them." In the book, Heigl also opened up about her
desire to focus on family instead of work, explaining that going on family leave changed
her whole perspective. She then spoke to Shonda about leaving the show and waited at home
until she was given the formal OK to leave. "The rumors that I refused to return were
totally untrue," the actress said. She explained that Shonda tried to
find a schedule that worked, but it wasn't possible without it negatively
affecting the cast and crew of the show. "It wasn't feeling fair to them or the show to ask
them to bend around my needs," Katherine added. However, not everyone agrees on this
version of the events. Unnamed sources told Rice that "Heigl wanted out because
it was so hard working with Shonda." An anonymous former ABC Studio executive revealed
that Rhimes and ABC wanted to "get her out". The actress concluded by saying that what
she most regrets from all the drama was being perceived as ungrateful. "That is
my fault. I allowed myself to be perceived that way," she confessed. Katherine explained
that humility and gratitude are essential for her and that she was disappointed
in herself for not showing them. After her time on the ABC show was
over, Heigl went on to perform in a series of romantic comedies and, of
course, enjoy time with her family. She even directed a music video for
her husband's song "It's your move"! The Suits actor has also talked about her marriage
several times. In 2014, she told US Weekly, "I think that we just really enjoy each
other. He's kind of my best friend." However, she was aware this could be tricky at times
since they ran the risk of the relationship becoming too much of a friendship and not
enough of a romance. Heigl also revealed a side of Kelley she enjoyed: "I laugh at
all his jokes. I think he's really funny." Katherine then got serious and shared the
biggest component of her relationship: communication. She shared that there
had been a rough patch in the marriage. "That doesn't mean there was a lack of
communication. It was just a lack of hearing, and it was assuming what the other person
meant and needed or wanted," she explained. The family is still strong today, and they
are obviously delighted with each other. The TV star has shared some tributes on Instagram
over the years. In a 2019 caption celebrating their 12th anniversary, she wrote, "This man …
this day … this marriage … I am damn grateful. That he found me. That I found him. That we
have somehow miraculously bettered each other." It seems like the couple will continue to
stand together amidst all the chaos and drama of Hollywood. Here at Rumour Juice, we wish them
and their children the happiest time together.
