Dick Van Dyke has touched on his marriage to wife Arlene Silver in a candid chat, insisting that they were ‘meant to be’.
The 98-year-old Hollywood icon first met the make-up artist, 52, in a chance encounter at the SAG Awards, in 2006, and they quickly grew close – before jumping into a relationship.
They took things to the next level and moved in together in 2011, before walking down the aisle in February, 2012.
Shortly after they were seen together in a rare outing in California, they lifted the lid on their romance, and why they are ignoring their 46-year age gap.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, the Mary Poppins actor explained that he had no idea about her job before introducing himself at the industry ceremony, and then hired her as his personal make-up artist.
‘I never approached a strange woman in my life,’ he told Entertainment Tonight. ‘And she walked by and I jumped and I said, “Hi, I’m Dick.” I had no idea she was half my age. Beautiful.
‘She had one [business] card left, which I took and hired her.’
Arlene explained that, when things eventually became romantic, no one close to the pair batted an eyelid over the age gap.
‘We were friends for so long that when I told people that I know, they were happy about [our relationship], and I was scared,’ Arlene continued. ‘I mean, the facts, our age difference. But it’s so irrelevant. I think when you see us together, it’s like you don’t think about it.
‘I’ve never met anyone like him.’
‘I was fortunate that I didn’t grow up,’ Dick jokingly added. ‘We were meant to be.’
They tied the knot in 2012 with two lavish celebrations – the first an intimate ceremony at Malibu’s Serra Retreat and their home, and a second Seafoam Circus bash in Malibu.
Speaking to the Disney Wedding Podcast, Arlene said that Dick ‘asked her to marry him pretty much every day’ until she finally said yes.
Dick joked that he waited until after Arlene’s 40th birthday to propose, with Arlene laughing: ‘It was a relief to him because it does sound better than 39!’
In 2013, Arlene spoke to Access Hollywood about their close bond, admitting at first she thought the relationship would ‘never work’ due to their different ages.
However, she discovered they shared many interests and love blossomed between the pair.
She said: ‘It works so well, it’s frightening that it’s just easy. Once we gave up the whole … the age thing, it just worked so well.’
Speaking to The Rumor Fix, she added that she was attracted to the legendary actor’s ‘infectious spirit’.
‘He’s the happiest person I’ve ever met,’ she vowed. ‘He’s just got an infectious spirit. Always singing, always humming, always in a good mood.’
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It marked the second time Chitty Chitty Bang Bang star tied the knot, with Dick marrying Margie Willett in 1948 during a live broadcast of the radio show Bride and Groom.
They enjoyed a 36-year union and had four children before divorcing years later in 1984.
Dick dated actor Michelle Triola for more than 30 years from the late 1970s until she died of lung cancer in 2009.
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