Michelle Yeoh shares her secret to a happy marriage after 19-year engagement
Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh has shared the secret behind her enduring relationship with her husband, former Ferrari CEO Jean Todt.
In a recent interview with PEOPLE, the 63-year-old actress explained that they treat every day as special.
"We've been together for 21 years, and we've been married for two," she said, "What we say is, 'Every day should be a celebration.' Why do we wait for a special day?"
Moreover, the Wicked star's husband is supportive of her work.
"I love my work. This is my passion," Yeoh said. "He never turns around and says you spend a lot of time away from me, which I have sometimes, but he's very understanding."
Additionally, Yeoh shared that her husband is a "romantic." Instead of counting their time together in years, he keeps track of the days.
"He tells me we've been together 7,000-[something] days. And if I really ask, he'll give me hours and minutes too," she revealed.
This unique way of measuring their love was even featured on their wedding program two years ago: "Today, after 6,992 days on 27th July 2023 in Geneva, surrounded by loving family and friends, we are so happy to celebrate this special moment together," the program read.
Yeoh, 63, and Todt, 79, met in Shanghai on June 4, 2004, and decided to enter into a romantic relationship.
While couples would commonly wait until after a few years before getting engaged, it seems that Yeoh and Todt were a different case, as Todt immediately popped the question to the Academy Award-winning actress on July 26, 2004, just a month after they started dating.
"We met, and within a month, he proposed, and I said yes," the actress said in an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in January 2024.
However, it was not until 19 years later that they officially became husband and wife. They tied the knot in Geneva, Switzerland, on July 27, 2023.
According to Yeoh, the two of them were quite busy juggling their many commitments and had no time to prepare the ceremony they wanted.
"No time! This year will be very busy. I will probably be doing two to three more movies this year. [The wedding] probably won’t happen this year," she said when pressed for a wedding date by reporters in Hong Kong back in 2017.
In the Fallon interview, Yeoh described Todt as "one of the most patient [people] in the world."
"And I think that's what we all deserve—to have someone who loves us for who we are and what we do."
Yeoh rose to prominence for her breakout role in the 2022 film Everything Everywhere All at Once, where she became the first Asian to win the Academy Award for Best Actress. She starred as Madame Morrible in the movie Wicked.
Todt is meanwhile known for being the CEO of Ferrari from 2004 to 2008 before becoming the ninth president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile up until 2021.
