Strange Things About Rebecca Romijn And Jerry O'Connell's Marriage That Have Us Baffled

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Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O'Connell have been married since 2007 and welcomed twins in 2009, but even they can't quite believe their marriage is still intact. "I think we're both shocked that we made it this far. We're still getting over just the shock of still being married," O'Connell quipped to ET as they celebrated their 15th anniversary. But while the actor/host was only kidding, he's not the only one surprised by the length of their romance, because there are a few strange things about this marriage that have left us scratching our heads.

One of those things was when O'Connell gave the world a glimpse into what goes on between them behind closed doors on "The Talk," where he served as a co-host. O'Connell didn't leave much to the imagination when he took off his shirt to give Romijn a steamy, choreographed lap dance to celebrate his 49th birthday. Much to the internet's detestation. "Cringe," one X user wrote of the routine. "Yuk," another commented. And while a lap dance broadcast across the nation was certainly an eyebrow-raising move, there are some far odder things about this relationship.

Before Giuliana Rancic developed relationship red flags with Bill Rancic, she was dating Jerry O'Connell. And she accused him of beginning his relationship with Rebecca Romijn while they were still together. The former "E! News" host made the allegation in her memoir, "Going Off Script," claiming O'Connell met the "Ugly Betty" actor at a Maxim Hot 100 party in June 2004 while they were still dating. "Little did I know he was in the VIP area, talking up Rebecca. As a prelude to feeling up Rebecca," she wrote (via E! News). She purported O'Connell ghosted her after that and broke things off by telling her, "'Things change, but you take care, OK?'" O'Connell later told Romijn of the night they met on "The Wendy Williams Show" (via People), "I saw you in the VIP section, and you were newly single, and I was like, 'I got to get some of that, right there.'"

And that's not the only odd detail of how O'Connell and Romijn got together. Though he referred to her as single, at the time of the Maxim party, Romijn was actually still married to John Stamos. The two separated two months prior, but Stamos didn't file for divorce until August 2004.

It's eyebrow-raising that Romijn and O'Connell got so publicly cozy while still involved with other people, and they might find that their relationship's beginning will come back to bite them. Celebrity relationship expert Nicole Moore exclusively told Women while highlighting Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively's red flags, "Typically, people cheat due to unresolved emotional issues within themselves or due to inability to communicate and operate with integrity in a relationship. They can often carry those issues into the next relationship."

Run-ins with your ex can be awkward at the best of times, but a run-in with your spouse's ex is arguably even more uncomfortable. It's a little weird, then, that Jerry O'Connell chose to go beyond simple pleasantries with Rebecca Romijn's former husband, John Stamos, and took a selfie with him and his wife, Caitlin McHugh Stamos, which he then posted on Instagram. "First @zohrankmamdani and @realdonaldtrump Then me and @johnstamos[.] You are up @russian_kremlin & zelenskyy_official," he joked in the caption after running into the couple at Howie Mandel's birthday party. O'Connell then gushed, "Gorgeous fam and gorgeous people @johnstamos & @caitlinskybound."

It makes sense that O'Connell would want to diffuse any tension between himself and his wife's former husband. However, there are conflicting opinions on whether it's a good idea to form a friendship with a partner's former lover when there are no children involved. In the case of O'Connell and Romijn, because she was still legally married to Stamos when she started dating O'Connell, it may not be the right move. "It would probably be a bad idea to befriend a partner's ex if they broke up with the person because of you, or if your relationship started shortly after they broke up," psychologist Anna Sargent told Independent. "The friendship may not be possible as there'll be too much suspicion and jealousy from the ex, and vice versa."

More than once, Jerry O'Connell has joked about divorcing Rebecca Romijn and not wanting custody of their kids. "Our house is so crazy that we just don't want to get divorced right now because neither one of us wants to end up with our kids and our dogs," he told Closer Weekly in 2017. Two years later, he made another very similar remark to Closer Weekly again. "Have twins, and as they get older and become more diabolical, you can't get divorced!" the "Sliders" star joked. Romijn got in on the joke that time, too, telling the outlet, "Because then one of you will be stuck with them. So you decide to stay together so one of you doesn't end up with them!" O'Connell then made the joke for a third time in 2023 when he told Daily Mail the secret to their long marriage, saying, "You also become too afraid to split up because one of us might get full custody and we're frightened of that so we try to stay together."

Of course, the couple was only kidding, and it's clear they're on the same wavelength when it comes to humor, which is actually a green flag. However, as counselling psychologist Sanya Oberoi pointed out on Instagram, making repeated quips about divorce (even in a light-hearted way) can be damaging to even the healthiest relationship. "'I'll leave' or 'I'll divorce you' doesn't sound funny to the nervous system. It creates fear, not connection. Emotional safety matters," she wrote. The jokes could also easily be taken the wrong way by those not in the relationship, including their children.

Though the majority of married couples choose to pool their finances (LendingTree reported in 2023 that 62% of the 2,000 U.S. couples surveyed have a joint bank account, while 41% chose to combine their incomes in a single account), it's not for Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O'Connell. In fact, she made it clear they purposefully decided never to get a joint bank account. "We keep our money completely separate," she said during a joint interview with O'Connell on "Andy Cohen Live." "... That's one of the first conversations you have when you decide to enter into a legal agreement together," she added, nodding when Cohen asked if it was her idea to split their incomes. However, Romijn confirmed they still share the responsibility of putting money aside for their children. "Obviously, as far as the kids go ... there's a community pot," Romijn explained, sharing that whoever is working the most at that moment puts in the most money each quarter. 

Some found their financial choices strange in the comments, though, with one viewer sharing their own experience with marriage and money. "Our money was and is always together. We talked about major purchases. We never had any fights or fusses over money," they wrote. Another quipped, "I'm assuming it's because she earns more money that's why it's separate." Whatever the reason, with so many years married and two children between them, it's odd that the two are still so determined to keep their money separate.