As Broadway stars, Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster should admire that their as soon as, not-so-secret, backstage love affair may make for nice theater — perhaps punctuated by some bittersweet Stephen Sondheim-esque ballads and rousing, Michael Bennett-style dance numbers.
As Foster herself mentioned, she and Jackman developed an in depth bond, and reportedly extra, whereas married to different individuals and whereas they co-starred in a Broadway revival of “The Music Man” from late 2021 to early 2023. Foster, 49, defined in a 2022 interview that she and Jackman, 56, loved non-public, pre-performance conferences in her dressing room, and would sit on the carpet and “catch up on our day.”
“We call it carpet chat,” Foster mentioned.
However it’s now been formally confirmed that there was much more to these dressing room chats than simply skilled bonding. As Folks journal shared with the world Tuesday, the previous “Music Man” co-stars had been photographed the night time earlier than, strolling down a streets in Santa Monica, holding palms, laughing and staring into one another’s eyes.
The Reduce mentioned the images mark the brand new couple’s “glossy paparazzi debut” after a number of years of maintaining their romance an “open secret” in Broadway circles — and maybe a real secret to Jackman’s longtime spouse Deborah-lee Furness. Within the images, the couple both seem to not bear in mind that they’re being photographed, or that they know and so they don’t care.
Within the fall, the New York tabloids and different shops started reporting that Jackman and Foster had begun a relationship through the run of “The Music Man.” Within the basic musical revival, Jackman performed conman Harold Hill who falls in love with Foster’s librarian Marian Paroo.
The affair experiences started as quickly because the Tony Award-winning Foster filed for divorce in October from screenwriter Ted Griffin after 10 years of marriage — “amid buzz” that she was now courting Jackman.
The 12 months earlier than, Jackman and Furness introduced that they had been separating after 27 years of marriage, however the two spoke of their separation as a mutual resolution to “pursue our individual growth.”
Nonetheless, following the flurry of experiences about Jackman’s backstage romance with Foster, sources near Furness confirmed to leisure shops that the affair was “the reason that Hugh and Deb got divorced,” Us Weekly reported in November..
“A lot of people on Broadway knew, and we kept it quiet because both of them are so nice and great people,” the supply continued to Us Weekly. “Everyone respected their privacy. But there was an affair and overlap.”
Furness additionally appeared to verify herself that her husband’s secret romance with Foster led to their divorce, Us Weekly reported. At one level, gossip blogger Tasha Lustig “spilled some major tea” about Furness being “blindsided” by her husband’s romance together with his co-star.
In an Instagram video, Lustig mentioned that the “Wolverine” star had “blindsided” Furness, who had given him her “whole life and career,” by “running off with the mistress.” From her non-public account, Furness was among the many greater than 26,000 who seen and “liked” Lustig’s put up, Us Weekly reported.
Furthermore, Furness’ shut good friend, British media character Amanda de Cadenet, additionally commented on Lustig’s declare, Us Weekly reported. “You are on point with this one.”
Lustig additionally reported that that Jackman and Foster had been planning to “soft launch” their relationship publicly.
It appears to be like like that “soft launch” has come within the New 12 months. Earlier than Monday night time’s sighting, Folks reported that Jackman was noticed within the viewers at one of many closing performances of Foster’s “Once Upon a Mattress” on the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. He was privileged to take a seat subsequent to comedy legend Carol Burnett, who originated Foster’s function within the 1959 manufacturing of the present.
The Los Angeles manufacturing of “Once Upon a Mattress” actually explains why New Yorkers Jackman and Foster had been in Santa Monica on Monday night time. Folks journal mentioned the 2 had been photographed arriving at a restaurant in Santa Monica. Jackman was dressed causally in a darkish jacket over a gray shirt and white denims, whereas Foster wore a tan trench coat over an olive costume.
Folks journal doesn’t say which restaurant they dined at. But when it’s a sure Italian restaurant in Santa Monica, that’s recognized to be a celeb hotspot, it turns into straightforward to think about that this “glossy paparazzi debut” may have been well-thought out by Jackman, Foster and their publicists.
