Inside Demi Moore and Bruce Willis' whirlwind romance before surprise divorce

11 November 2023 , 08:00

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A look back at Bruce Willis and Demi Moore's memorable Hollywood relationship (Image: Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

As actress Demi Moore reels in her 61st birthday, we're taking a look back at one of her most iconic Hollywood relationships with Die Hard star Bruce Willis.

Demi and Bruce have been remembered as one of the greatest power couples of their generation as the pair both dazzled on red carpets with their talent and lovable personalities. Despite the pair getting a divorce in 2000 and remarrying, they still remain on great terms as they continue to parent their daughters Rumer Willis, Scout Willis, and Tallulah Willis.

Their whirlwind romance is one for the books as they fell head-over-heels for one another and spontaneously tied the knot months after meeting. After sharing three children and a 13-year-long marriage together, the pair decided to call it quits, finalising their divorce two years after announcing their breakup. After the amicable split, the pair remained great lifelong friends and even attended each others weddings to new partners.

Demi and Bruce first meet at a movie premiere

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Demi and Bruce first met during the premiere of the movie Stakeout (Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

Bruce and Demi shared a 13-year relationship and still remain friends (Getty Images)

Demi and Bruce first laid eyes on each other during the movie premiere of the action-comedy Stakeout in 1987. Demi attended the event with her former fiancé actor Emilio Estevez who was actually starring in the movie.

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Within just weeks of the pair meeting one another, Demi called off her engagement with Emilio and soon started dating Bruce who had just landed one of his first leading roles in Hollywood. When Demi first met Bruce, she immediately felt a connection as she said that Bruce was "just so ready to embrace and give me love."

Spontaneous Las Vegas wedding

Bruce and Demi had a impromptu wedding in Los Angeles (Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

They remained married for more then 10 years (Getty Images For Comedy Central)

Just four months after meeting one another they tied the knot in an intimate, impromptu wedding in Las Vegas at the Golden Nugget hotel in 1987. In Demi's memoir titled "Inside Out" the Ghost actress admitted that their ceremony was unplanned.

In her book, Demi said that they spontaneously made the decision while they were in a casino in Las Vegas. She wrote: "We were moving to the gambling tables when Bruce said, 'I think we should get married.' We'd been joking about it on the flight there, but suddenly it didn't seem like he was kidding."

The lovebirds later held a more formal ceremony together to celebrate their love with their friends and family. At the beautiful celebration of their love their close friend singer Little Richard officiated the wedding.

Demi and Bruce welcome three daughters together

Demi and Bruce share three daughters together (Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

They now have a blended family

On August 16, 1988 the couple welcomed their first daughter Rumer. She was named after the famous British writer Rumer Godden. Their first child became the pair's main priority as they would purposefully plan their schedules and projects in order to always have one parent present to take care of Rumer.

Speaking about Bruce's role as a loving father, Demi said: "Bruce helped pull this baby out of me," and continued: "He was there with his hands. ... He's as passionate and as excited and as driven with being a father as he is with anything else that he does."

In 1991, the pair welcomed their second daughter Scout and three years later the pair welcomed their third and last child together Tallulah. Speaking about fatherhood, Bruce gushed that he loves his daughters and cherishes being a father. In an interview in June of 2013, the actor said: "Your kids need your love and attention, and being able to devote myself to them is very fulfilling," and continued: "As I get older, spending time with my daughters makes things much easier. You learn to put your ego aside.”

Shock separation

Demi and Bruce separated after 11 years of marriage and finalised their divorce two years later (Sygma via Getty Images)

After 11 years of marriage, Demi and Bruce made the shocking announcement that they were splitting in 1998. The famous pair shared that the breakdown of their love was due to "irreconcilable differences." The two didn't officially finalise their divorce until two years after announcing their separation. After their public breakup, Bruce admitted that it was very difficult to be in a couple in Hollywood under the spotlight and that after their romantic relationship ended they became "closer than they ever were."

The years following their divorce, Demi and Bruce continued to stay good friends as they shared the lifelong commitment of raising their three children together. During a Comedy Central roast, Demi joked about her marriage with Bruce and how the actor claimed that the end of their marriage together was one of his biggest failures.

During the hilarious roast of her ex-husband, Demi said: "After our divorce, he said he considered the end of our marriage his biggest failure, but Bruce, don’t be so hard on yourself, you’ve had much bigger failures. I mean Planet Hollywood, ‘Hudson Hawk,’ ‘Striking Distance,’ campaigning for Michael Dukakis, turning down Clooney’s role in ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ to focus on playing the harmonica?"

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Demi and Bruce attend each others' weddings to new partners

Bruce attended Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher's wedding (Getty Images)

Demi attended Bruce Willis' wedding to his current wife Emma Heming (Getty Images)

Despite their own marriage not lasting, the pair both continued to share their love with others as they both went on to marry other people and attended one another's weddings. After their breakup, Demi was first to re-marry as she tied the knot with That 70's Show star Ashton Kutcher in 2005.

The pair first met one another through a shared friend at a dinner in 2003 and soon began dating. After a loving two-year relationship the couple officially tied the knot in Beverly Hills in a lavish celebration in front of 100 of their friends and family. During the ceremony, Bruce was in attendance supporting his ex-wife and her new chapter of love. Ashton and Demi went on to share a six-year-long marriage together before filing for a divorce in 2011.

The former couple officially called it quits due to Ashton allegedly cheating on Demi. In Demi's memoir, the actress wrote that when she confronted Ashton about his supposed infidelity he claimed that previous threesomes together were the catalyst that led to it.

Demi also later attended Bruce's wedding to a new partner as he said "I do" to his current wife Emma Heming in 2009. The pair held their wedding ceremony at his residency in Parrot Cay, Turks & Caicos. At the wedding both Demi and her previous husband Ashton were in attendance rooting on the newlyweds. The pair are still together to this day and now share two children together, daughters Mabel Ray and Evelyn Penn.

Bruce no longer recognises Demi amid dementia decline

Bruce reportedly no longer recognises his ex Demi Moore (Getty)

A new heartbreaking update has come to their longtime friendship as Bruce reportedly no longer recognises his ex Demi. As Bruce is currently facing a dementia decline, it has been reported that he has come to the point where he no longer recognises loved ones. Although he is facing severe memory issues now he is still able to recognise his current wife Emma and his daughters at times.

Caroline Gaspich