It's not uncommon for actors to marry other actors. It makes sense because they understand the business and often meet on the sets of television series or movies where they tend to spend long hours together. There are also many celebrities who have married non-famous people, like Matt Damon and Nicolas Cage. Two different entertainment worlds collide when actors marry musicians. But what about actors who marry athletes?
That's actually more common than fans might realize, as there are many TV stars who have married famous athletes who play, or have played, everything from football to baseball, hockey, and more. While not all of the marriages lasted, some have been going strong for a decade, even two!
Kerry Washington
Best known for her leading role as Olivia Pope on the ABC drama Scandal – her best-rated role to date - and the Hulu miniseries Little Fires Everywhere, Kerry Washington is also a talented movie actor, having appeared in films like Ray and The Last King of Scotland.
In 2013, she married Nnamdi Asomugha, who is an actor himself, but also a former football cornerback. He was drafted to the Oakland Raiders in 2003 and played for the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers through his career as well. He isn't just a former football player: some call him one of the greatest Raiders to have ever played the game.
Gabrielle Union
Her name is actually technically Gabrielle Union-Wade now that the actor married Dwayne Wade, a former professional basketball player who has three NBA championships to his name. He played for the Miami Heat, and was on the team during their first NBA Championship, even named MVP on the finals.
The pair got married in 2014 and share a daughter together, born via surrogate, while Union is stepmother to Wade's three other children. Union's acting credits mostly include movies though many forget that she started her career in the '90s on television. In 2000, she starred in the CBS medical drama City of Angels, and in 2013, she starred in BET's Being Mary Jane. Most recently, Union starred in the comedy action crime series L.A.'s Finest opposite Jessica Alba. She also had a short stint as a judge on America's Got Talent.
Julianne Hough
Julianne Hough, who was one of the best professional dancers in the reality competition series Dancing With the Stars, went on to pursue acting and singing as well. She also appeared as a judge on the reality show America's Got Talent (at the same time as Union). Prior to that, she shifted from dancer to judge on Dancing with the Stars. On television, she appeared as Sandy in the live Fox production of Grease as well.
Hough's ex-husband, who she married in 2017, was Brooks Laich, a former Canadian hockey player who played for the Ottawa Senators, Washington Capitals, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Los Angeles Kings. They separated at the end of 2020.
Kendra Wilkinson
While she hasn't been in the spotlight for some time, Wilkinson was at one point in time one of the biggest stars on E! She starred in the reality series The Girls Next Door that documented her life, and that of other ladies and Hugh Hefner, at the Playboy Mansion. She went on to star in her own reality series called Kendra, then a second called Kendra on Top.
From 2009 through to 2018, Wilkinson was married to Hank Baskett, a former NFL wide receiver who played for the Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, and Indianapolis Colts. He hasn't played professionally, however, since 2011.
Kim Zolciak
One of the original housewives from the widely popular franchise The Real Housewives, Zolciak appeared on the Atlanta edition of the series. In 2012, she starred in her own spin-off series, Don't Be Tardy for the Wedding, which was all about her wedding to professional football player Kroy Biermann. She also appeared as a contestant on Dancing With the Stars in 2015.
Biermann played for the Atlanta Falcons as a defensive end and outside linebacker from 2008 and 2015. While he was briefly drafted for the Buffalo Bills in 2016, he was cut from the roster a month after signing his one-year deal.
Erin Andrews
Erin Andrews might not be an athlete herself, but she knows a ton about sports, having worked as a sportscaster for many years as well as a TV personality and actor. Her most notable TV position was as a correspondent on ESPN as well as her work with Fox Sports as lead sideline reporter for the NFL broadcasting team. She also gained recognition among non-sports fans as co-host of Dancing with the Stars with Tom Bergeron.
So, it comes as no surprise that Andrews would have met her spouse during work and that he might very well be an athlete. Indeed, Jarret Stoll, who she married in 2017, used to play for the NHL, for the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, and Minnesota Wild. He won two Stanley Cups, in fact, in 2012 and 2014, both times with Los Angeles.
Kristin Cavallari
Starting her career on reality series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, then moving on to its spin-off series The Hills, and launching her own reality show, Very Cavallari, it's safe to say that Cavallari is a reality TV star. She was on the 13th season of Dancing With the Stars as well.
She was married from 2013 to 2020 to Jay Cutler, who was an NFL quarterback for 12 seasons, first with the Denver Broncos then spending the rest of his career with the Chicago Bears. After retiring in 2016, he returned for one more season to play with the Miami Dolphins.
Brooklyn Decker
She has been in movies like What to Expect When You're Expecting and has worked as a model for Sports Illustrated and Victoria's Secret. But Decker has proven herself a great television actor as well, with guest spots on shows like Chuck, Ugly Betty, The League, and Royal Pains. Most recently, she has been starring in the Netflix original series Grace and Frankie as one of Jane Fonda's grown children.
Since 2009, Decker has been married to tennis pro Andy Roddick, with whom she shares two children. While he has been retired from the game for many years, Roddick was number-one and at the top of his game when he played.
Candace Cameron Bure
The former star of the '80s sitcom Full House and its sequel series Fuller House has also made a name for herself appearing in a variety of Hallmark Channel TV movies. She has discussed many times in interviews how her former Full House co-star Dave Coulier inadvertently introduced her to the man who became her husband, former NHL hockey player Valeri Bure when Coulier invited the cast to come watch him play in a charity hockey game.
Bure played the right-wing position for a variety of NHL teams back in the '90s, including the Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues, and Dallas Stars. The couple represents celebrity marriage goals as they have been married now for more than 24 years.
Eva Longoria
Desperate Housewives and her fan-favorite character Gaby Solis helped catapult Eva Longoria into the spotlight beyond her existing fanbase from daytime soap opera Young and the Restless. She went on to star in a variety of movies as well, like The Sentinel and Overboard, then returned to the small screen in 2015 to star in the NBC sitcom Telenovela. She also worked behind the scenes as executive producer for the Lifetime series Devious Maids.
From 2007 to 2011, Longoria was married to Tony Parker, a French-American professional basketball player who played for the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA for most of his career. He ended his career in 2018-2019 playing with the Charlotte Hornets.