When Alan Ritchson signed on to portray ex-military policeman Jack in the Prime Video series, Reacher, fans have become intricately interested in his personal life – including who he is dating.
Unsurprisingly, someone has the lock and key to the American actors heart. In fact, the couple are high school sweethearts!
Alan was just 17-years-old when he met the person who would later become his wife, Catherine who was 16-years-old at the time. While the pair haven’t been together since then, Catherine confirmed they had “dated” while appearing on The Road to Wisdom podcast in 2023.
At the time, Alan was studying musical theatre and had met Catherine during a ballet dance class – a moment she remembers to this very day.
“I’ll never forget seeing him for the first time in the [dance] studio. I turned to my friend Miriam and I said, ‘Who is that?’ “ she remembered. “He, at some point, came up to me and we just got chatting.”
Catherine grew up in a small town on a 90-acre farm, often travelling long distances to reach main stores. The travel time was actually the reason why Alan broke up their “fling” after their first summer together.
“I’ve made him pay for it ever since,” she joked on the podcast. “He still justifies it. He’s like, ‘You lived 30 minutes away, I couldn’t afford gas.’”
Despite this blunder, the pair reconnected through a mutual friend when Alan visited Miami for a modelling shoot, while Catherine was attending the University of Florida.
On May 12, 2006, the couple exchanged vows. To celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary, Alan shared a tribute to Instagram.
“15 years ago today two kids got married,” he captioned the post. “They had no idea what splendid and terrible things lie ahead of them when they made that vow to remain each other’s partner in life, come what may.”
In 2023, Catherine shared her learnings from 17 years of marriage.
“Real love is not found in star charts, flirtation, or charming manipulation. In fact, real love isn’t found at all,” she wrote.
“True, deep, sturdy love is built brick by brick. Some days the mortar runs too thin, other days the bricks aren’t laid perfectly straight, and there are days when the rain is coming down too much for that day’s work to settle well. But the effort and intention between each brick is there and it’s real and its duo of builders are wise in laying each one with care and patience.”
Six years after their trip down the aisle, Alan and Catherine welcomed their first child together, Calem, born in 2012. Shortly after in 2013, he was joined by Edan and Amory in 2015.
Alan’s career in acting meant he was away from his family, filming on location. Giving his work commitments, the Ritchson family decided to sell their home for a life on the road.
“Being away from my family for long stretches on location was hard on them and me,” Alan explained to The Wall Street Journal in 2023. “So Cat and I recently sold our Florida house and we now live in Airbnbs and hotels while I’m on set.”
In early 2025, the pair temporarily relocated to Gold Coast, Australia as Alan films a new movie, Runner.
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