Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilarie Burton were set up on a simple blind date in 2009 arranged by actor Jensen Ackles and his wife Danneel (Ackles being one of Morgan's co-stars onfan favorite Supernatural). And since that one night they are rarely away from one another.
Blind dates serve as one of television’s greatest story elements, with the subject serving as the jumping-off point for countless situation comedies, romances, melodramas and, of course, reality shows, for decades.
RELATED: Catherine Zeta-Jones’ Has It All – But After 22-Years of Marriage She’s in “Thankful Mode’ For One Simple Reason
Perhaps that’s why it seems so right that two veteran TV performers with 50 years of combined experience behind them can proudly admit they met on a blind date 13 years ago and have been together ever since.
The TV Veterans Were Set Up on a Blind Date
Torgan and Burton hit it off immediately and wasted no time when less than a year later, welcomed their son, Augustus. But even the quick start to their growing family didn't stop them from regularly appearing on television.
Over the past two decades, Morgan has grown into a popular TV fixture, with featured or starring roles in such smashes as The Burning Zone, Grey’s Anatomy, Magic City, The Good Wife, Leopard Skin and, most triumphantly, as bad boy zombie apocalypse survivor Negan on TV’s seminal The Walking Dead. Burton's resume is far less, er, cannibalistic, with recurring appearances in the series White Collar, Lethal Weapon and Extant and a juicy starring role in the beloved teen drama One Tree Hill.
RELATED: Kristen Bell’s Secret to a Healthy Ten-Year Marriage Is One Simple Phrase – And It Is Eye-Opening
The demands of their television careers were put on hold for the birth of their second child, daughter George Virginia, who was born in 2018. It proved to be a busy year for Morgan and Burton as that’s when the couple decided to move onto Mischief Farm, a 100-acre working far in Rhinebeck, New York.
In October, 2019, Morgan and Burton made it all official and were married, with Burton declaring on her Instagram page, “We’ve lived as husband and wife for a decade. We’ve built a family, and a farm and found our community.”
Morgan and Burton Moved onto Mischief Farm in 2018
Mischief Farm is quite a lively place, filled with animals, including cattle, miniature donkeys, dogs, chickens, ducks, alpacas and an emu. It's not all about the four-legged friends: the TV stars-turned-small-business-owners have taken their mutual appreciation for a good drink to market with the launch of their MF Libations line of liquor.
Using local distilleries and bottlers for their MF Blackberry gin and MF Bonfire Smoky Rye whiskey, Morgan and Hilaire are keen on working with local businesses in the creation of MF’s potent potables.
RELATED: Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates’s Marriage Was Shocking – After 34 Years One Simple Word Kept It Together
Written on the farm's official website, “The joy we have found in this lifestyle of hard work and chores and mountains of manure is something we wish for everyone.”
Of course, even though they may have “bought the farm,” Morgan and Burton are still enjoying their careers as entertainers. Morgan continues to electrify viewers on The Walking Dead, which just wrapped its 11th and final season. Morgan's Negan will be back, though, on the much-anticipated spin-off series, The Walking Dead: Dead City, which is currently in production and set for a 2023 premiere.
For her part, Hilarie Burton has rotated through the recent dramas Council of Dads and Good Sam. She even popped up on an instalment of The Walking Dead a couple of years back in a flashback episode that found her portraying Negan’s ill-fated late wife, Lucille.
“I might be biased, but I always enjoyed the levity that Negan brought to The Walking Dead,” offered Hilarie of her one-off appearance opposite her real-life husband on the hit series.
“And he’s so good looking and so charming,” she added with a laugh.
Morgan Backed Burton's Anger at Candace Cameron-Bure
Morgan put the charm—devilish charm, to be sure—to good use last month when he demonstrated his unswerving support of Burton after she commented on actress Candace Cameron Bure’s interview with the Wall Street Journal. Former Hallmark holiday movie queen Bure had made a remark concerning her upcoming commitment to work on Christmas-themed projects with the new Great American Family network and how the media company would not feature same-sex couples in starring roles.
Bure claimed that she expects the network she is now making Christmas movies with to “keep traditional marriage at the core.”
RELATED: Michelle Obama “Couldn’t Stand” Barack Obama for 10 Years of Marriage—and It Makes Sense
After the interview was published, Burton jumped onto Twitter and let loose, tweeting that Bure was a “bigot” and following it up with, “I don’t remember Jesus liking hypocrites like Candy. But sure. Make your money, honey. You ride that prejudice wave all the way to the bank.”
The next day, Burton's hubbie jumped on board with a wife-supporting, Bure-bashing tweet of his own.
“How’d I miss this twit?! 'Who the f*** is this person?,” read Morgan's tweet. “Hey Hil? You’re awesome. We lucky to have ya. X.”
Jeffrey Dean Morgan emerged with a follow-up tweet 45 minutes later, noting his wife talents as both a thespian and a writer.
“’Make you money honey.’ Lol…cooked kids dinner and was laughing the whole time. Wife has words AND timing,” he declared.
Now that’s the kind of support we like to see between a husband and wife!
Burton Acted as Morgan's Wife on The Walking Dead
The happy couple continues to keep busy. Burton with hands-on caring for the children and co-hosting the One Tree Hill-themed podcast Drama Queens. While Morgan continues with The Walking Dead spin-off series.
RELATED: Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally Have a Few Things to Say About 20 Years of Marriage and We Should Listen
But even with Morgan's shooting schedule and their very unique life at an upstate New York farm, their love, respect and adorable family life are only growing!
