Why Ali Landry And Mario Lopez's Marriage Failed After Two Weeks
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One day you're young, carefree, and singing along to all the latest Top 40 hits. Then, before you know it, those same songs start appearing on "Golden Oldies" playlists ... and also your back hurts, and you can't find your glasses, and you're wondering whether 9 p.m. is too early to go to bed. It's true, aging will come for us all — but it's not all bad. For one, you probably have much better judgement now, having lived and learned through all your youthful mistakes. If you want proof, just go look at your social media posts from 10 years ago. Yikes. One person that can probably attest to the wisdom that time brings is none other than Mario Lopez.
If you've, ahem, been around long enough, you might remember that the "Saved by the Bell" star was once married to former Miss USA Ali Landry ... for a grand total of two weeks. And if you're assuming it was just another Hollywood quickie romance à la Britney Spears and Jason Alexander or Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries, one that ended once she discovered his gigantic stash of hair gel — nope, the pair actually dated for six years before their short-lived union. They even worked together at one point, both appearing in the (largely forgotten) 2002 movie "Outta Time." On the surface, it seemed like they had it all, winning both personally and professionally. So, why could the couple not go the distance? After years of silence, Lopez finally explained — and it wasn't pretty.
What Mario Lopez blames for his failed marriage to Ali Landry
As established, maturity can be wonderful, especially when it comes to perfectly ripened cheese, finely aged wine, and the man you're spending the rest of eternity with. Indeed, Mario Lopez partly blamed immaturity for his breakup with Ali Landry. And not the fun kind, where he poured salt in her coffee or kept placing whoopee cushions on her seats — instead it was the kind where you fail to control yourself at your bachelor party.
Speaking to Howard Stern in 2011 (via Us Weekly), the "Dancing with the Stars" runner-up admitted to lying to Landry about his bachelor party plans from the get-go: "I said I was going to Cabo ... to go marlin fishing. Then my cousin surprised me and said 'No ... we're going on this whirlwind tour: Cabo, Acapulco, all these places.'" It was at these exotic destinations that he "messed around" with someone else just days before his wedding. "Everybody was hanging out. That was a situation where I was not mature and man enough."
So, was Lopez at least "man enough" to 'fess up to Landry before they tied the knot? As it turns out ... not quite: "I figured at that point it was easier to ask for forgiveness (afterwards)," he told Stern. "It's my bachelor party, we were going to have a good time. And we went, we had a good time." Unfortunately for all involved, the resulting aftermath was anything but a good time.
How Ali Landry discovered Mario Lopez's secret
Another positive of aging: learning to trust your instincts. Years after her split from Mario Lopez, Ali Landry admitted on "The Wendy Williams Show" that she had doubts about her partner: "I had heard something right before the wedding," she said. "He swore that it was not true, nothing was true, but I had that feeling in my gut." However, she waved away her doubts and went through with it, reasoning: "This is the man I've been with, I should trust him." But her suspicions won out in the end, and with the help of a tech-savvy friend, she discovered clear-cut evidence of his infidelity.
The couple skipped the honeymoon and annulled their marriage after two weeks, as per People. But Landry managed to make the best of the nightmare, telling Williams she tried to "move on in a positive way" by focusing on her faith. Someone up there must have taken notice, as it was in a theology class where the "Eve" actor met Mexican director Alejandro Gómez Monteverde, eventually marrying him in 2006, as per People.
Lopez himself acknowledged his past mistakes in his 2014 memoir, "Just Between Us," writing that "I knew I should have broken things off with her before I strayed." The "Access Hollywood" host has since found happiness with actor Courtney Laine Mazza, whom he married in 2012 after years of dating. No word about whether she allowed him to have a bachelor party.