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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Kate Ng

Michelle Yeoh marries long-time partner Jean Todt after 19-year engagement

AFP via Getty Images

Michelle Yeoh and her long-time partner, ex-Ferrari CEO Jean Todt, have finally tied the knot, 19 years after he proposed to her.

The Everything Everywhere All at Once star, 60, married Todt, 77, in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday (26 July).

The news was confirmed by former Formula One driver Felipe Mazza, who shared a series of photographs from the nuptials on his Instagram account.

The first photograph showed a card from the wedding that told Yeoh and Todt’s love story, alongside a throwback picture of the couple.

It read: “We met in Shanghai on 4 June 2004. On 26 July 2004, JT (Jean Todt) proposed to marry MY (Michelle Yeoh) and she said yes!

“Today after 6,992 days on 27 July 2023 in Geneva, surrounded by loving family and friends, we are so happy to celebrate this special moment together!”

Massa also shared a selfie with the happy couple, while holding Yeoh’s gold Oscar statuette, which she was awarded earlier this year for Best Actress for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Another photo showed Yeoh beaming at the camera while embracing Todt. The last picture in Massa’s post showed the couple standing at a table and surrounded by their witnesses as they prepared to sign the legal marriage document.

In the images, Yeoh is wearing two different outfits. One bridal look featured a white silk button-up shirt with a tiered lace skirt, while the other was a champagne-coloured corset with embellishment on the front, worn over a lace long-sleeved top and skirt.

The Brazilian racecar driver wrote in his caption: “Happy marriage Jean Todt and Michelle Yeoh, love you so much.”

The couple own an 18th-century mansion in Geneva, which is their main residence when they are not travelling for work. They also have properties in Paris, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Todt previously described his and Yeoh’s first meeting in 2004 as a “fairytale” in an interview with theFinancial Times. They met while Todt was unveiling a car at an event and Yeoh came to take publicity photographs with the vehicle.

Jean Todt and Michelle Yeoh attend the 95th Annual Academy Awards on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California
— (Getty Images)

In 2014, the former International Automobile Federation (FIA) president revealed that German racing driver Michael Schumacher taught him how to send text messages so he could “woo” Yeoh in the early days of their relationship.

He told theDaily Mail: “I don’t use a computer. I don’t know how to. My maximum is SMS. I wanted to communicate with my wife, in fact.

“So I spoke to Michael Schumacher. We were together. He said, send an SMS. I said I don’t know how to send one. So he was the one who taught me.”

Yeoh became the first Asian actor and Malaysian to win an Oscar in March, beating out fellow nominees Cate Blanchett, Ana de Armas, Andrea Riseborough, and Michelle Williams.

She was previously married to Hong Kong business magnate Dickson Poon from 1988 to 1991 and left the acting industry to try and start a family with him. However, they did not have any children together and divorced.

Speaking to Bustle last year, Yeoh explained she did not feel “pressure” from Poon or his family to stop acting, but “she couldn’t understand how I could have a full [career while] being married”.

However, she added: “As it turned out, I was unable [to have children]. And if I’m being honest with myself, I didn’t want for us to be bitter 10 years down the road. Because in Asian families, people want to have sons and daughters [because] they are an extension and a legacy. And when you have the realization [that you can’t have kids], you have to deal with it. You deal with the curveballs that are thrown at you.”

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