Oscar-winning heartthrob George Clooney was a confirmed bachelor for decades before marrying international human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin in 2014. Their wedding shocked many, as Clooney had publicly vowed in a 1995 Barbara Walters interview never to marry again after his divorce from Talia Balsam in 1993. For over two decades, he dated models and actresses without commitment, leading to rumours he was gay.
Clooney's Response to Gay Rumours
In 2012, shortly before meeting his future wife in July 2013, Clooney addressed the speculation. 'I think it's funny, but the last thing you'll ever see me do is jump up and down, saying, 'These are lies!' That would be unfair and unkind to my good friends in the gay community,' he said. 'I'm not going to let anyone make it seem like being gay is a bad thing. My private life is private, and I'm very happy in it. Who does it hurt if someone thinks I'm gay? I'll be long dead, and there will still be people who say I was gay. I don't give a s***.'
Dating History Before Amal
Clooney's romantic history includes several high-profile relationships. From 1996 to 1999, he dated French law student Céline Balitran, whom he met while filming in Paris. After their split, he began a relationship with British model and TV presenter Lisa Snowden in 2000. They were together on and off for several years, finally ending in 2005. During this period, he was also linked to actress Krista Allen, whom he met on the set of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind in 2002. The timelines of his relationships with Snowden and Allen occasionally overlapped, making it the messiest period in his romantic history.
In 2007, he started seeing former Las Vegas cocktail waitress Sarah Larson. They were together until 2008, and she was the first girlfriend to accompany him to the Oscars. After their breakup, he dated Italian model and TV personality Elisabetta Canalis from 2009 to 2011. He then began a relationship with actress and former WWE wrestler Stacy Keibler, which lasted until he met Amal.
Meeting Amal and Marriage
Clooney met Amal Alamuddin in July 2013 when a mutual friend brought her to his home in Lake Como, Italy. The couple married less than a year later. Discussing their relationship on the Smartless podcast with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett, Clooney said, 'The truth was, I met this amazing woman, and she took my breath away. She was brilliant and funny and beautiful and kind. I was sort of swept off my feet.' He added, 'We got engaged after a few months and got married within the first year that we met. It surprised me more than probably anybody else in the world — and everybody else was pretty surprised!'
