Millie Bobby Brown's ‘Stranger Things’ co-star says he's officiating her wedding
Millie Bobby Brown has a special connection to the officiant for her upcoming wedding to Jake Bongiovi.
Though the couple haven't publicly announced their wedding date yet, one big role has been filled for their special day.
In an interview with Access Daily on March 21, Brown’s “Stranger Things” co-star Matthew Modine revealed to Mario Lopez and Kit Hoover that he would be serving as the officiant for Brown and Bongiovi's wedding.
“I have one of those licenses to get people married and Millie thought it’d be great, and then Jake said it would be a great idea,” Modine explained. “So I wrote the wedding vows and they loved what I wrote for them to join hands and become husband and wife.”
Modine portrayed Dr. Martin Brenner, also known as “Papa,” on the Netflix series, a father figure — albeit a twisted one — to Brown’s character, Eleven.
The actor, who has been married to his wife Caridad Rivera since 1980, added, “It’s such a beautiful thing to be able to join two people in holy matrimony.”
Brown and Bongiovi's relationship dates back several years, with the couple sparking dating rumors back in 2021 after they became friends through Instagram.
By April 2023, Brown and Bongiovi were engaged.
Brown has said that she always knew he was "the one" for her.
"After we met we knew we never wanted to leave each other’s side,” she told The Sunday Times in August 2023. “You can’t pinpoint why [someone is ‘the one’], it’s just the feeling of knowing that that’s the person you want to spend the rest of your time with.”
“I think so much of life is overthinking,” the “Stranger Things” star added. “The one thing that made clear sense to me was him. So I didn’t really have to do much thinking.”
Bongiovi is the son of singer Jon Bon Jovi, and Brown has seemingly fit right in with the family.
The rocker previously dismissed concerns regarding their ages — Brown is 20, and Bongiovi is 21 — and in February, he told "E! News" the couple is "madly in love and we love them both for that."
Read on to learn more about the relationship between Brown and Bongiovi.
Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi meet on Instagram
In a November 2022 interview with Wired, Brown said that she and Bongiovi fittingly met on Instagram and “were friends for a bit.”
In September, Brown spoke about the start of their relationship while Bongiovi attempted to do her makeup in a video for her makeup company Florence By Mills. After exchanging Instagram messages, the future fiancés started talking over FaceTime.
Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi meet in person
Once they felt like they were ready to meet in person, Bongiovi said he went to an airport to pick up Brown and saw that she was trying to play it "cool."
However, he said he was a little "taken back" by the situation because that was the first time he saw Brown in person and not as a "floating head" on FaceTime.
When asked whether or not he gave her "the ick" — which describes the way a person's affection for someone can quickly change into disgust — Brown said she never felt that with Bongiovi.
"You've never given me 'the ick,'" she said on her YouTube channel. "Once you get 'the ick,' you cannot get rid of it."
June 2021: Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi spark relationship rumors
In June 2021, Brown and Bongiovi sparked relationship rumors when he shared an Instagram picture of himself and Brown sitting in a car together. The caption read, "Bff <3."
She later revealed in a November 2022 interview with Wired that she and Bongiovi fittingly met on Instagram and "were friends for a bit."
"And then, what can I say," she cheekily added.
November 2021: Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi go Instagram official
In November 2021, Brown and Bongiovi confirmed that they were dating when Brown shared a blurry photo of them seemingly kissing while riding the London Eye.
February 2022: Jake Bongiovi celebrates Millie Bobby Brown's 18th birthday
In February 2022, Brown turned 18 years old. For her birthdy, she and Bongiovi, who is now 21, channeled the early days of Barbiecore by dressing as Barie and Ken dolls, each sporting platinum blond hair.
Captioning a photo of their look on Instagram, Brown wrote, "Hey ken!"
March 2022: Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi make their red carpet debut
In March 2022, Brown and Bongiovi attended the BAFTA Film Awards together wearing matching black outfits. The pair were photographed smiling at each other as they made their red carpet debut as a couple.
June 2022: Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi pack on the PDA
Brown and Bongiovi attended a Harry Styles concert with Noah Schnapp, Brown's "Stranger Things" co-star and best bud, and the couple packed on the PDA in photos from the event.
Brown posted a pic of the couple sharing a romantic kiss, with the caption, "alexa play love of my life by harry styles."
Schnapp meanwhile shared photos of him and Bongiovi standing together, decked out in matching white boas.
January 2023: Millie Bobby Brown calls Jake Bongiovi her “partner for life”
In honor of the New Year, Brown took to Instagram on Jan. 1, to talk about the "wonderful" year she had in 2022.
“Endlessly in love with the year I’ve had! grateful for my friends, family, donkey (bernard), my doggies, my puppies teeth, and my partner for life,” she wrote. “Here’s to another year with you and the wonderful people and animals around us. let’s do it again but better!”
Bongiovi commented on her post, "Your year babe love you so much."
April 2023: Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi get engaged
In April, Brown indicated that she and Bongiovi got engaged when she shared a cute black-and-white photo of him hugging her from behind.
Fans quickly noticed that she was wearing a ring on her left hand.
"I’ve loved you three summers now, honey, I want ‘em all," she captioned the pic using a Taylor Swift lyric.
Months later, while doing Brown's makeup on her YouTube channel, Bongiovi spoke about their engagement and said he was quite "nervous" when he proposed to the "Stranger Things" star.
"It's not a known story. There were many different factors that went into it that were actually life-threatening, that if they went awry, it could have been detrimental to your life," he said in September 2023, with a laugh. "But luckily for you, it was amazing."
Brown later revealed in a March interview on "The Tonight Show" that the proposal occurred underwater, while the couple was diving. During the dive, Bongiovi handed her a shell.
“I turn it over and it’s a ring. And I was like — and I like looked at him and he was (trying to speak),” but it came across as underwater noise and bubbles, Brown said.
“(Thumbs up) means go up (to surface), so that technically would mean, 'No, I don’t want to marry you. I want to go up,'” Brown added.
So, she gave him an “OK” hand signal. But after she put the ring on, it slipped off, nearly sinking into the deep blue sea — until her fiancé saved the day.
“Jake threw himself into the (water) like so deep,” to the point that it became dangerous, Brown said.
“He does a cinematic like grab, opens (his hand) and he saved the ring,” she said.
While their young engagement raised some eyebrows, Jon Bon Jovi defended his son's young engagement, telling Andy Cohen, “I don’t know if age matters, you know, if you find the right partner and you grow together.”
June 2023: Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi celebrate their engagement
In June, Brown and Bongiovi celebrated their engagement when they were seen cozying up to one another in a series of cute photos that makeup artist Buster Knight shared on Instagram.
In one of the snaps, the couple were standing in front of a sign that read, "Mr & Mrs. Bongiovi."
“Congrats to the cutest couple in the world! @milliebobbybrown & @jakebongiovi on their engagement. You two are so perfectly matched!!” Knight gushed in his caption.
August 2023: Millie Bobby Brown opens up about her relationship with Jake Bongiovi
In an August interview with The Sunday Times, Brown spoke about her relationship with Bongiovi and revealed how she knew that he was "the one" for her.
“After we met, we knew we never wanted to leave each other’s side,” she said. “You can’t pinpoint why [someone is ‘the one’], it’s just the feeling of knowing that that’s the person you want to spend the rest of your time with.”
“I think so much of life is overthinking,” she added. “The one thing that made clear sense to me was him. So I didn’t really have to do much thinking.”
The "Enola Holmes" star also noted that Bongiovi proposed to her with one of her mother’s rings.
“I’ve always loved that ring, it’s always stuck out to me, so she gave it to Jake," she said. "They were in cahoots about the whole proposal. I love that I can always keep a piece of my mum with me.”
March 1, 2024: Millie Bobby Brown poses on red carpet with fiancé and future in-laws.
On March 1, the “Livin’ on a Prayer” singer attended the premiere of his future daughter-in-law’s new Netflix film, “Damsel,” posing on the red carpet with his wife, Dorothea Hurley, and the happy young couple.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
