George Clooney: First love at 53? What about his first wife?

close

Video

Clooney’s wife really that fascinating?

Barbara Walters’ reasoning maybe questionable

NEW YORK – George Clooney broke millions of hearts a few months ago when he whisked Amal Alamuddin off to one of the most romantic places in the world, Venice, Italy, to get married, and then he broke hearts again when he professed his love for his new wife publicly in his Lifetime Achievement Awards speech during Sunday night’s Golden Globes telecast.

“Listen, it’s a humbling thing when you find someone to love,” he said. “Even better if you’ve been waiting your whole life and when your whole life is 53 years. Amy [Poehler], start the jokes. Amal, whatever alchemy it is that brought us together I couldn’t be more proud to be your husband."

Wait just one minute. Is he saying he hasn’t found someone to love before this moment? What about the countless women he dated before Amal? WWE star Stacey Keibler, Italian model and actress Elisabetta Canalis, and cocktail waitress Sarah Larson, are only a few, but let’s not forget that he was also married in the early 90s for four years to actress Talia Balsam.

He didn’t even love her – his wife?

Fifty-three years without true love sounds like a stretch, but two relationship experts say it’s not uncommon.

“Finding your first true love later in life is more common than people realize,” says Lori Bizzoco, Relationship Expert and Executive Editor of Cupidspulse.com “Finding your first love way into your 40s, 50s and 60s is very possible especially now that the pressure of being in a relationship and getting married at an early age is slowly fading and careers are taking priority. You cannot predict when love will come into your life, and for Clooney, 53 was his lucky number.”

Psychotherapist and founder of KMA Therapy Kimberly Moffit says his gushy words may be the result of a changed perception of his love life thanks to his age.

“He may have a more mature and seasoned outlook on relationships as a man who's now in his 50s, or maybe his definition of 'love' has changed,” says Moffit.

One of the most shocking things about what Clooney said is the fact that he actually said it at all  -- and in such a public forum. Famous for being ultra-private about his love life, Clooney’s decision to talk about his new wife and marriage so openly goes against everything he has done in the past, and Moffit says the behavior is common with men who are really, deeply in love.

“Men act this way when they're smitten with the woman they're dating or married to,” she says.

His newfound desire to speak so publicly may also be a result of the kind of woman Amal is, as well, says Bizzoco. As a human rights lawyer, activist and author, she has a much more impressive resume and academic background than most of his exes.

“When a man respects and is proud of his partner, just as Clooney mentioned in his speech, he cannot help but vocalize this happiness,” Bizzoco says. “He doesn't do this to boast or brag; he sincerely just wants to respect her as his equal and let others know what's important to him now. The fact that Amal is young, smart, and a humanitarian really speaks to him on levels that go far deeper than what he has had with other women in the past.”