From dad's mental health battle to sister’s drug overdose, why Jake Bongiovi's engagement to Millie Bobby Brown could be his escape from dark past
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Millie Bobby Brown sent her fans into a frenzy after she announced her engagement to long-term boyfriend Jake Bongiovi on April 11. The 19-year-old 'Stranger Things' star broke the big news in a mushy social media post, which captured her beaming in Bongiovi's arms and flashing her enormous ring. "I've loved you three summers now, honey, I want 'em all," she wrote in the caption. The 20-year-old rockstar and actor also took to his own page to unveil the big step, posting two candid snaps of the couple and simply writing 'forever' in the caption.
Brown and Bongiovi took the big step after carving an indelible niche for themself in tinsel town. While Brown earned a name for herself, Bongiovi was no stranger to the spotlight, being the son of the '80s legend, Jon Bon Jovi, 61, and his wife Dorothea Hurley. With some big names, the Bon Jovi family undoubtedly appears to be one of the most reputed and tight-knit clans in the show business. However, they've still had their fair share of struggles.
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With a 34-year-long marriage, the ‘It’s My Life’ singer and his wife Dorethea are among the most long-lasting couples in Hollywood. The high school sweethearts exchanged vows in Las Vegas in 1989 after nine years of dating, according to Daily Mail. The A-list couple then welcomed four children, Stephanie, 30, Jesse, 28, Jake, 20, and Romeo, 19. Previously, Dorethea revealed that she and Jon intended to keep their children out of the public eye.
Stephanie Bongiovi's drug nightmare
"We never really drag the kids to things," Dorethea told People, adding "I never pointed at the TV and said, 'There's Daddy!' We try hard just to give our kids a normal life." However, the Bon Jovi family suffered major distress in 2012, when Stephanie, who was 19 at the time, was hospitalized due to an opioid overdose. Speaking about the ordeal, the singer told Mirror that "it was horrible, a horrible moment. It was my worst moment as a father."
He said his daughter’s hospitalization was a tragic life lesson. "She was by no means sticking needles in her arms. But there's a lot of synthetic stuff in the world and a lot of temptation and access and pressures that just a generation ago you and I didn't know about it," he said adding, "I feel it was a terrible tragic lesson of life but I thank God every day because she is whole. It happened and it has gone. I know personally people whose sons and daughters, were it was a lot, lot worse. That could have been Stephanie."
Jon Bon Jovi's distressing mental health issues
Stephanie is not the only one who had a troubled past in the Bon Jovi family as Jon himself suffered some dark years due to his mental illness. In 2016, the 'Bed of Roses' singer admitted that the previous three years were "the worst of his life," after his guitarist Richie Sambora abruptly left the band after 30 years. Bon Jovi was coping with Sambora’s departure when the situation got worst because of his ensuing row with his record label. "It was a very, very difficult time that I haven't fully rebounded from yet but my wife has been phenomenal. Without her, I am not sure how I would have coped," Bon Jovi told Mirror.
He also revealed that in 1991 he suffered a major heartbreak and contemplated suicide by jumping out of a moving car. At that time his career saw a drastic downfall as he was left exhausted by the release of Bon Jovi's third album Slippery When Wet, and back-to-back touring. "I am not ready to share it in full but it was not pretty. But I am working towards it. It was similar to that period in retrospect," he claimed. "I found acting at that time which gave me a release. There was no release this time around but there were just as many difficulties," he added. Despite their struggles, the Bon Jovi family has managed to remain tight-knit.