Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber: A 22-year marriage steeped in friendship and founded on respect
During this COVID-19 lockdown, social media challenges have become quite the thing to be part of, one of them being Instagram's #firstdatechallenge. While many celebrities have participated in this challenge, Cindy Crawford joined in by sharing a throwback photo of her "first trip" with husband Rande Gerber in 1994.
Taking to her Instagram account that boasts 4.7 million followers, Crawford shared the adorable picture that shows the couple holding each other with a beautiful beach as the backdrop. The supermodel captioned the picture, "Our first trip, 1994 [sun emoji] @stephaniejcoffey put me up me to the #firstdatechallenge... I think this counts!"
Crawford and Gerber, 57, married in 1998, and have been together for over two decades. The couple also shared two children together, a son, 20-year-old Presley Walker and a daughter, 18-year-old Kaia Jordan, both models and famous in their own right. Here's a look back at Crawford and Gerber's relationship.
In 1991, Crawford, 25, had married Richard Gere, 42. Speaking of her marriage, Crawford said, "I think part of the problem in our relationship was that we were a lot of other things, but I don’t know if we were ever friends — like peers — because I was young and he was Richard Gere." In 1995, the duo called it quits and Crawford later married Rande Gerber, a marriage that has lasted over 20 years.
Nightlife industry entrepreneur Rande Gerber met the supermodel while she was still married to Gere. Crawford revealed to Harper’s Bazaar details of the first time she had met Gerber, saying, "We met at my agent’s wedding. When I met him I was still with Richard [Gere] and he didn’t want to go to the wedding with me…Rande also had a girlfriend at the time so he wasn’t looking to meet anyone either and that’s the best time to meet someone because that’s when you’re truly yourselves. We became friends and after Richard and I broke up then we started dating."
Having had one of the most successful marriages in Hollywood, both Gerber and Crawford credited the loyalty and long-lasting love to the fact that the duo were friends first. At Oprah’s Master Class, Crawford said, "We started off as friends, and I know that Rande and I, we will always be friends, no matter what. Being rooted and based in friendship, it keeps the relationship elevated. There’s always a certain level of respect. We respect each other’s opinion about parenting and our personal life, but also for work stuff . . . We really listen to each other. I would want that friendship in my life no matter what."
Gerber had also echoed her sentiments with an interview with Entertainment Tonight when he said, "We started as friends and we remained friends. You have to just keep that friendship and fun in the relationship."
While most of Hollywood choose to have glamorous, upscale and public weddings, the duo opted for a secret wedding, so much so that Crawford's stylist wasn't even kept in the loop. Also, they walked each other down the aisle. Crawford revealed to Harper Bazaar, "I actually told a stylist friend of mine that I had to go to a black-and-white party, so to bring me some black dresses and some white dresses, because we didn’t tell anyone we were getting married. That was just one of the white dresses and it was perfect. It was off the rack Galliano, and I love it.” Of course, the rest was history, and the couple welcomed their first child, Presley Walker, in 1999 and daughter Kaia Jordan in 2001.
There was a bit of trouble in this unconventional paradise when in 2004 and 2009 Gerber had to deny allegations of cheating. Waitress Harmy Kubiak revealed in 2004 that she had slept with Gerber while in 2009 two more witnesses had said they were fired from their job after having declined sexual advances from Gerber. While that may have been daunting, it seems the couple pulled through.
Dishing on their secrets of a happily married life, Crawford spoke of how she and her husband keep things alive with date nights and healthy sex life. “We do have date nights. It sounds a little cheesy, but that’s what it is – time for the two of us," she had revealed to Redbook. As for bedroom time, the model said, “If you just wait for the moment to strike, you’re going to have some dry spells. Sometimes you have to grease the wheels a little. You just need to make it a priority and say tonight is going to be the night. If you’re not in the mood, it’s easy enough to get into the mood."