Millie Bobby Brown, the actress the public first met when she was 12 years old in the first season of Stranger Things is now 19 years old (!) and has been dating now-fiancé Jake Bongiovi for years. On April 11, 2023, the couple hinted in two Instagram announcement posts that they are now engaged before the news was later confirmed:
The pair was first linked in June of 2021, after being seen holding hands in New York City. They were both masked at the time, and Bongiovi carried Brown’s dog, a poodle named Winnie, in a tote bag. Brown travels with Winnie to help ease her anxiety while she travels.
“About two years ago, I just started having really bad panic attacks, like, really bad anxiety and I struggled with it really bad,” she said on an episode of Miley Cyrus’s Bright Minded. “And, one day I was just talking, and I was like, ‘Maybe I should get a therapy dog,’ you know, something to comfort me when I am really stressed.’”
Over the years, Brown has been linked to YouTube star and musician Jacob Sartorius and Romeo Beckham, the son of Victoria and David.
Since those early days, they have become quite public about their relationship. But Bongiovi, it turns out, is used to the spotlight, much like Brown. Bongiovi, born Jacob Hurley Bongiovi, is one of Jon Bon Jovi’s four children.
You might have seen him in photos with his father and the rest of the fam, but here is what to know about him and his relationship with Brown.
Jump to:
- He is 21 years old.
- His mother is Dorothea Hurley.
- He was an athlete in high school in Brooklyn.
- He has referred to Brown as his BFF.
- He’s friends with her friends.
- How did Brown and Bongiovi meet?
- They’ve made their red carpet debut.
- They were together for Thanksgiving 2022 and decorated a Christmas tree together.
- The couple celebrated Christmas 2022 together.
- Brown has said he’s her “partner for life.”
- Bongiovi celebrated Brown's 19th birthday with a loving Instagram tribute in February 2023.
- Bongiovi and Brown announced their engagement in April 2023.
- Brown wished Bongiovi a happy 21st birthday in an Instagram post on May 7, 2023.
- The couple enjoyed an engagement party in May 2023.
- Like many celebs, they headed to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in June 2023.
- They’ve been sharing couple pics to celebrate summer 2023.
- Brown and Bongiovi have begun their wedding planning.
- Brown spoke about falling in love with Bongiovi and addressed criticism about getting married so young in her October 2023 Glamour interview.
- They spent some of February in NYC just ahead of Brown's 20th birthday.
- Brown’s Stranger Things co-star Matthew Modine revealed he’s officiating their wedding.
He is 21 years old.
Bongiovi was born in May 2002, according to a Facebook fan group for his father. He is the youngest of his three siblings, who include Romeo, Stephanie, and Jesse.
This is Jesse:
His mother is Dorothea Hurley.
Bongiovi’s parents have been married since April 1989 but have had a romance longer than that. They met in high school.
“Mutual respect,” Jon told People last year of what has helped their relationship last. “Having grown up together and grown together. And we really like each other. We want to hang out.”
Dorothea said: “I always said I was good at spotting potential, too. I have a gift.”
Jon continued: “We work hard at it, but we enjoy each other and we never fell for the trappings of what celebrity can do. We’ve witnessed that happen over the years to people that were close to us and people that we knew from afar. It’s just what I do, it's not who I am. I write songs. I happen to be very good at performing them. That’s it.”
He was an athlete in high school in Brooklyn.
Bongiovi attended Poly Prep Country Day School and played football. He is listed on the roster as a Poly Prep “Blue Devil” for the 2019-2020 school year.
He has referred to Brown as his BFF.
“bff <3,” he wrote.
It looks like they were obviously already more than friends.
He’s friends with her friends.
Brown’s real life bestie is Stranger Things co-star Noah Schnapp, who attended a Harry Styles concert with the couple this summer. Scnhapp shared some shots of he and Bongiovi playing around in the stadium with Styles in the background.
Brown also shared a pic from the night of her and Bongiovi sharing a romantic moment.
How did Brown and Bongiovi meet?
In an interview promoting Netflix's Enola Holmes 2, Brown discovered that one of the most Googled searches under her name is “how did millie bobby brown and jake bongiovi meet.”
“We met on Instagram, and we were friends for a bit, and then, what can I say?” she said.
They’ve made their red carpet debut.
They first appeared together on the red carpet at the EE British Academy Film Awards 2022 at Royal Albert Hall in March.
And in May, Bongiovi was Brown's date at the premiere of the latest season of Stranger Things.
He also accompanied her to the premiere of Enola Holmes 2.
They were together for Thanksgiving 2022 and decorated a Christmas tree together.
Bongiovi shared he was very thankful for Brown during Thanksgiving.
And that same month they seemed to be decorating a shared Christmas tree together, posting a clip to “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” while wearing coordinating Disney PJs. It looked like on the tree, there were matching “M” and “J” ornaments, too.
The couple celebrated Christmas 2022 together.
On December 22, 2022, Brown showed off her boyfriend on Instagram Stories, sharing a shot of her kissing him on the cheek at Taylor Swift's “Maroon” played in the background.
“I chose u!” she captioned the post. In a second black and white video, Bongiovi is singing karaoke to Mulan's “I'll Make a Man Out of You.”
“Disney songs? Key to my heart,” Brown editorialized. Earlier in the month, she shared a photo on her timeline of the two of them enjoying a beautiful day on a sandy beach, hugging in their bathing suits.
“sunny one so true, i love you,” she wrote.
Bongiovi shared his POV of the same trip, in which he and Brown are walking down the beach holding hands.
Brown has said he’s her “partner for life.”
To celebrate her 2022, Brown shared a carousel of photos of the previous twelve months, saying she was “endlessly in love with the year” she had. The photos included a number of pictures from Brown with her pets, her friends, traveling, and on set. And it included quite a few pictures of her boyfriend.
One photo featured a strip of photo-booth images in which they are kissing, another in which they are hugging in the car, and one where he seems to be grabbing her waist by a Christmas tree and she pretends to be surprised.
In the rest of the caption, Brown said she was “grateful for my friends, family, donkey (bernard), my doggies, my puppies teeth, and my partner for life.”
She added, “here's to another year with you and the wonderful people and animals around us let's do it again but better!”
“Your year babe love you so much,” Bongiovi commented on the post, adding a red heart emoji.
Bongiovi celebrated Brown's 19th birthday with a loving Instagram tribute in February 2023.
Bongiovi gave the public an intimate look into their love story when he shared an Instagram post celebrating Brown's 19th birthday. “Another year around the sun together happy 19th to the girl of my dreams,” he wrote. “I love you more than words can describe. Everything about you is golden down to the core ❤️”
The pair was also photographed celebrating her birthday out together on Sunday, February 19, at Los Angeles' Tao restaurant.
A month later, on Friday, March 24, they were seen in London at the members only club and hotel Chiltern Firehouse. Brown was wearing white zebra-print bell-bottom pants by Alessandra Rich paired with a white top and a large black jacket with quilted lining. Her hair was slicked back in a bun and on her feet were strappy heels with a white pedicure.
Bongiovi wore a large white button down with the collar open to reveal a chain necklace and a baggy pair of lightwash jeans with white sneakers.
Bongiovi and Brown announced their engagement in April 2023.
Brown and Bongiovi dropped bombshell news on the morning of April 11. Both shared photos of them posing together, Brown in a white lace bridal-like dress. She showed off a diamond ring on her left ring finger and captioned her Instagram with a Taylor Swift lyric: “I've loved you three summers now, honey, I want 'em all 🤍”
Bongiovi posted his own Instagram at the same time, captioning it, “Forever 🤍” Neither explicitly said they were engaged, but fans took the posts as hints of an announcement.
Bongiovi's dad, Jon Bon Jovi, commented on the young couple's engagement while talking with Andy Cohen on his SiriusXM show. Bon Jovi married his high school sweetheart Dorothea Hurley, so he's no stranger to young people making a commitment.
“So you were together when you were young,” Cohen asked his guest. “When your almost-21-year-old says, ‘I'm getting engaged,’ do you worry for them that they're too young, or because you were so young when you were with Dorothea, you weren't engaged that young, but do you worry as a dad about how old or how young they are?”
“I don't know if age matters,” Bon Jovi answered. “You know, if you find the right partner and you grow together, I think that would be my advice really, is growing together is wise. Growing together, and so I think that all of my kids have found the people that they think they can grow together with, and we like them all.”
In March 2024, Brown made an appearance on the Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon and shared the harrowing details of the proposal itself when her engagement ring was almost lost before she could wear it.
“Jake and I bonded over diving. We love diving, we got our diving licenses together,” Brown began, adding Bongiovi invited her to a very early dive while they were on a trip. “I was like, ‘8 a.m., dive?’ And he’s telling me, ‘We’re going to the same spot we usually go to.’”
Brown wanted a new experience, but Bongiovi insisted they revisit their old haunt. While underwater, Bongiovi handed her a shell. Guess what was inside? After she gave him the underwater “okay” sign, they knew they were getting married.
“He puts the ring on my hand and as I go to show him, the ring falls off my finger, plummets so fast, it was like a cinematic movie,” Brown shared. “Jake threw himself so deep, the diver was like, ‘You can’t do that, like your ears... literally your brain will explode.’”
Bongiovi did a “cinematic grab” and saved the ring, but she would never expect anything less.
“It's a reflection of who he is and I feel like we’re always going to have each other's back and if anyone drops the ball, we got it,” she said.
Brown wished Bongiovi a happy 21st birthday in an Instagram post on May 7, 2023.
Brown shared a little look into her life with her fiancé and feelings for him in a birthday post she shared to fête Bongiovi's 21st birthday. “This sums us up,” she captioned a carousel of photos of them holding hands. “In bliss, exploring together. I am eternally holding your hand. happy birthday fiancé. I love you ❤️”
The couple enjoyed an engagement party in May 2023.
Brown and Bongiovi were celebrated at an engagement party, and Brown's hairstylist Pete Burkill shared a few photos where the young couple are standing in front of a bunch of white balloons and a sign that reads “Mr & Mrs Bongiovi.”
Brown for a lace two piece from Italian designer Giambattista Valli, and Bongiovi was in an olive green suit for the occasion.
“Congrats to this beautiful couple!” Burkill wrote in the caption.
Like many celebs, they headed to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in June 2023.
Brown and Bongiovi were spotted by fans in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Friday June 30, 2023, for Swift's show at Paycor Stadium. They were enjoying the show from their seats in the VIP section, though they were mostly dancing and rocking out to the music. Brown was dressed in solid monochrome pink and painted a glittering pink heart around one, just like on the cover of the singer's 2019 Lovers album.
They’ve been sharing couple pics to celebrate summer 2023.
On Friday, August 4, Brown shared a sexy mirror selfie with Bongiovi wearing a daffodil yellow dress. The spaghetti strap gown had a scoop neckline was accentuated with a band of fabric that fell off one shoulder. Brown had her hair in a loose updo with tendrils around her face, and a gold pendant.
Bongiovi was standing behind her with his arm around her waist, and wore a button down shirt and a chain necklace. He snapped the photo as she looked into the mirror. In the caption, Brown wrote, “i stan jake bongiovi.”
A day earlier, Bongiovi shared a photo of himself embracing Brown in a parking lot with no caption, though her Stranger Things co-star Noah Schnapp, commented, “Photo creds.”
Brown and Bongiovi have begun their wedding planning.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Brown shared details of the proposal and wedding planning, saying Bongiovi proposed with a ring that belonged to Brown's mother Kelly.
“I’ve always loved that ring, it’s always stuck out to me, so she gave it to Jake,” she explained. “They were in cahoots about the whole proposal. I love that I can always keep a piece of my mum with me.”
She went on, “I ran to my mum and said, ‘I really, really like him!’ After we met we knew we never wanted to leave each other’s side. You can’t pinpoint why, it’s just the feeling of knowing that that’s the person you want to spend the rest of your time with. I think so much of life is overthinking. The one thing that made clear sense to me was him. So I didn’t really have to do much thinking.”
For her dress, she said he is “weighing up options” though the event is “not about what I wear.”
After being asked if she would potentially change her name to Millie Bobby Brown Bongiovi or Millie Bobby Brownovi, Brown laughed and said, “I definitely don’t think that’s it. We are having those conversations [though] and they are important to me.”
In August, while speaking with Women's Wear Daily, Brown said she wanted the nuptials to be “low-key,” but didn't want to share too many details.
“I can say that the planning is going,” she said. “It's so fun. And it's such an exciting time in my life...To have everyone's opinions and eyes looking at that just feels unnatural to me. So I feel it's important to keep those things—those small precious moments in life—really close to your chest.”
On Friday's episode of the Today show, Brown still wouldn't reveal a wedding date, but said, “It's not been stressful at all for me. Jake is very involved, he is very helpful during the whole process. I have never felt alone in it, which I think is nice.”
She went on, “I am like, ‘Is this a good idea?’ But ultimately it's a very intimate day for the both of us and we are excited.”
When asked if Jon Bon Jovi would be performing at the ceremony, Brown said probably not.
“I feel like that's like asking me to do a full-on play for everyone,” Brown joked. “I think the man needs a break, he doesn't stop. He's always doing tennis or singing lessons.”
“He can just be the father of the groom!” host Jenna Bush responded.
“Exactly,” said Brown. “That would be wild... I don't know if he'll be able to do just that.”
Brown spoke about falling in love with Bongiovi and addressed criticism about getting married so young in her October 2023 Glamour interview.
Brown opened up about her love story with Bongiovi and how being with him made her want marriage, something she hadn’t been all that interested in growing up.
Before she dated him, “I think I was so afraid to be a strong woman in a relationship,” she prefaced, adding she was under the impression she shouldn’t take up too much space.
“When I met Jake, I just felt I could be loud,” she said. “He embraced that and encouraged that. And I fell in love with myself while being with him.”
She cited one pivotal conversation they had: “I was like, ‘Why do you love me?’ And then he listed all these things that I hated about myself. I was like, ‘You see good in those things?’ And he was like, ‘Of course I do.’ Those are things that I love about myself now. He was a really big, huge part of me loving myself and becoming a woman. It was like, ‘Wow, I really love this person because he allows me to love myself.’”
“He’s so kind,” she continued. “And his heart is just loving and wonderful and smart.”
He also changed her view on marriage. “My dream was to have a baby,” she said. “I wanted to be the woman that my mom is to me and I wanted to be the woman that my grandmother was to me. So that was never my, like, intention, to be a wife. But after meeting Jake and seeing, ‘Oh, I don't have to be this stereotypical wife for him. He doesn’t want me to be that either. He wants me to go and do my thing and live my life, and he will hold my hand in the process of that.’ I was like, ‘Oh, I do want this.’”
As for criticism that she’s too young, Brown said that she trusts her intuition regarding her right timing. “It’s like—I know I should make this movie now. I know I should write this book now. I know I should do this now,” she said. “It’s not because I can’t do it in 10 years; of course I can do it in 10 years. But why, when I know that it’s going to work now? Just like Florence [her beauty line] will be there in 10 years. You’ll be able to see my movie in 10 years on TV. And I know that Jake and I will be okay.”
They spent some of February in NYC just ahead of Brown's 20th birthday.
On Monday, February 19, the couple were seen buttoned up against the cold in New York City as they walked their dog in the chilly winter weather. Both wore black coats, Brown with a patterned sweater over a green shirt and black pants, her hair pulled up into a casual bun. Bongiovi had on a dark blue pullover and brown pants. It happened to be the star's 20th birthday, but a dog needs to be walked every day, even special occasions.
Brown’s Stranger Things co-star Matthew Modine revealed he’s officiating their wedding.
In a March 2024 interview with Access Daily, Modine shared that Brown asked him to officiate her and Bongiovi’s upcoming wedding. “I have one of those licenses to get people married, and Millie thought it’d be great, and then Jake said it would be a great idea, so I wrote the wedding vows, and they loved what I wrote for them to join hands and to become husband and wife,” he said. “It’s such a beautiful thing to be able to join two people in holy matrimony.”
