The Red Flag Cindy Crawford Admits To In Her Marriage With Richard Gere

In the '80s, Cindy Crawford was on her way to becoming one of the top supermodels in the world, while Richard Gere had already established himself as a sexy, brooding actor. It would seem natural that they were drawn to each other when they first met in 1988 through their mutual friend and famed photographer Herb Ritts. At the time, Crawford was in her early 20s, with Gere being 17 years her senior. 

While their relationship was glamorous and full of red carpet events, their wedding was anything but. The two eloped in 1991 to Las Vegas with Crawford wearing a navy suit and a ring made out of foil. "Richard [Gere] and I had been dating for several years and at one point I was like, 'Are we doing this or what?' And he said, 'Let's go to Vegas tonight.' It wasn't the wedding I dreamed of," the model admitted (via Yahoo!).

Their whirlwind marriage was short-lived and in 1994, they announced their separation. "This personal and painful decision was made between us in July," the couple said in a joint statement, per the Tampa Bay Times. They added that they were "trying to work things out" but the two divorced in 1995. Since then, the "House of Style" host has remained mostly quiet about her relationship with Gere, but she has opened up about how their age difference played a factor in their split.

Big age differences between celebrities are not uncommon, but Cindy Crawford was still finding herself when she was with Richard Gere. "In the beginning of a relationship, when you're a young woman, you're like, 'You like baseball? I like baseball. You're really into Tibetan Buddhism? I might be into that. I'll try that.' You know, you're willing to kind of mold yourself around whoever you are in love with," Crawford shared on the Apple TV+ docuseries "The Super Models" (via InStyle).  

Crawford had previously brought up their glaring age difference on a 2013 episode of "Oprah's Master Class." She shared that at 22 years old, she was still unsure who she was as a person, while Gere, at 37, was already well into adulthood. Crawford revealed that Gere had tried to advise her on matters and she "didn't want to hear it," but years later, she saw the wisdom in his words. Now, Crawford feels that her experience was all part of figuring out who she was and who she wanted to be. "Sometimes it's it's defining what you don't want that helps you then get closer to what you do want," she said.

It's now been decades since their divorce and despite having no hard feelings toward each other, Crawford once shared how time and distance affected her relationship with Gere.

Cindy Crawford's marriage to Richard Gere was just a blip in her timeline and while they were once close, it's just a distant memory for the supermodel. "We're friendly, but I think it's almost like he's gone back to being, like, 'Richard Gere' again, like a stranger because we don't really see each other that much," she shared on the "WTF with Marc Maron" podcast. Crawford admitted feeling like she never knew if they could get along as friends because of their age difference. She reflected that being in her early twenties meant she was still maturing and growing as a person, so the relationship wasn't what it used to be.

Gere being older did have some positive effects on Crawford, and she wrote in her autobiography "Becoming" that she learned a lot from him, including how to handle fame (via People). Crawford is now happily married to her longtime husband, Rande Gerber, whom she wed in 1998. This time around, she made sure they were friends first, something she learned from her failed marriage with Gere, as she said in "Oprah's Master Class." "Being rooted and based in friendship, it keeps the relationship elevated ... [Rande and I] really listen to each other. I would want that friendship in my life no matter what," she said.

It can be easy to harbor ill feelings for a previous romantic partner, but Cindy Crawford doesn't view her time with Richard Gere as something to regret. On "Oprah's Master Class," the supermodel actually spoke of her ex-husband fondly. "Richard's a super smart guy, and he's interesting, and he's interested, and I learned a lot about the world," she said. "It was a great chapter in my life."

A big part of it was taking notes from Gere on dealing with the intricacies of fame. The "Pretty Woman" actor taught Crawford that you don't have to give in to what everyone wants just because you're a public figure. "Being a nice girl from the Midwest, my inclination is always to give and say yes because I want people to like me. But then I saw Richard do it in a way that was like, 'You know what? Sorry, I'm not doing that. But I see you,'" she explained. "He felt it was really just about making that connection."

In a way, Gere served as Crawford's role model in being famous, and she's eternally grateful for it. "I will say being with someone as my own fame was starting, being with someone who had already dealt with that, was a good entry," she shared in a "Ladies First with Laura Brown" guest appearance. "I don't deal with it the exact same way he does, but I did learn a lot from him just about like how to navigate that."