Real-Life Love
Michelle Dockery Is Pregnant! All About ‘Downton Abbey’ Star’s Husband Jasper & Their Love Story
Michelle Dockery has quite a lot to celebrate! Not only is Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale almost here, but the actress is also expecting her first child.
Dockery graced the red carpet for the franchise’s final movie on September 3, using the occasion to announce her pregnancy to the world. Her husband, Jasper Waller-Bridge, joined her to share the happy news. In a baby blue gown, the Lady Mary Crawley actress smiled next to her partner while she showed off her bump.
At this point in the Downton Abbey saga, Mary’s had a few kids of her own, but she hasn’t been the luckiest in the romance department. Dockery’s love story with Waller-Bridge, however, has been far less tumultuous. Read on for everything we know about her husband and their relationship.
Who is Jasper Waller-Bridge?
That last name might ring a bell, and yes, he’s related to exactly who you think: Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge! They are siblings. But the 37-year-old has made a name for himself in the entertainment industry.
He’s a London-based TV and film producer and music manager, with his own music production company called Day One Pictures. In fact, he managed former One Direction member Louis Tomlinson for a time.
How long have Michelle Dockery and Jasper Waller-Bridge been together?
The couple got together in 2019, according to their engagement announcement in The Times. They wouldn’t make their red carpet debut until 2022 at the premiere of Dockery’s Anatomy of a Scandal.
After about four years of dating, they tied the knot in September 2023. Their ceremony, expectedly, served as a Downton Abbey reunion with creator Julian Fellowes and most of the Crawley family actors in attendance. Dockery’s onscreen sister, Laura Carmichael, was one of her bridesmaids.
How did Michelle Dockery and Jasper Waller-Bridge meet?
The pair were introduced by mutual friends and attended the 2019 Rome Film Festival together, per The Times.
Has Michelle Dockery been married before?
No, but the 43-year-old was once engaged to John Dineen, a Irish public relations director. After being diagnosed with cancer, Dineen died in 2016, shortly before their planned wedding.
“I don’t have the vocabulary to describe what it felt like. And what it still feels like. It is…” Dockery told The Guardian in 2017. “I’ve never been more committed to anything in my life than to him. We were engaged, and married at heart, and so I do consider myself a widow.”
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, In Theaters, September 12
