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Molly Ringwald holds a rare distinction — she’s part of an exclusive crowd of 1980s teen stars affectionately dubbed ‘The Brat Pack,’ and among its ranks are A-listers including Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, and Emilio Estevez. Molly, now 55, captured the hearts of a generation by starring in movies of the era including The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Sixteen Candles.
She continues to enjoy a high-profile career, more recently appearing in all three movies in The Kissing Booth franchise, DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, and Riverdale.
On January 23, 2024, Molly appeared at the premiere of the star-studded second season of Feud (Capote vs. The Swans) in New York City — and she was accompanied by two very important guests! Molly’s been married to Panio Gianopoulos for nearly 20 years, and he escorted her to the big event alongside their daughter, Mathilda.
Here’s everything to know about Molly’s longtime marriage to Panio and her previous marriage.
How did Molly and Panio Meet?
The 80s icon and her husband met online sometime in the early 2000s, according to PEOPLE. The attraction was intellectual, as they began bonding while discussing books in an online literary forum. The duo reportedly emailed back and forth, You’ve Got Mail style, before meeting in person and taking things from there.
Do They Have Children?
Molly and Panio welcomed their first child together, Mathilda Ereni, in 2003. With a daughter to make their family complete, the couple tied the knot in 2007, and in 2009, they welcomed fraternal twins — daughter Adele Georgiana and son Roman Stylianos.
Parenthood seems to suit Panio. In a 2011 interview, Molly gushed over what an “amazing father” Panio has been. “He’s seven years younger than me, and I was pushing for kids, so he decided to do it while he was younger than he had originally anticipated being,” she told Good Housekeeping at the time. “I thought because I was a woman, I would know what to do all the time, but I really think he’s the natural.”
Panio is a Writer
Technically, Panio and Molly are both writers. But according to Molly, writing is Panio’s first and only occupation. “He’s a writer — it’s what he’s always done, he’s never wanted to do anything else,” she told the Los Angeles Times in 2012. “As opposed to me, where I’m a singer, I’m an actress, I’m a writer. That’s it, for him, it’s all about writing.”
Panio is the author of two books (Where We Keep the Money and How to Get Into Our House,) and has a literature degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Still, Panio has dabbled in his wife’s profession, appearing in an episode with Molly in The Secret Life of the American Teenager.
His other accomplishments include an MBA from Stanford and a black belt in karate.
Molly’s Previous Marriage
Before her romance with Panio, Molly was married to French novelist Valéry Lameignère. The former couple married in 1999 in Bordeaux, France, but the marriage didn’t last long, and they divorced in 2002. According to New York magazine, the actress became fluent in French during their marriage.
“I moved to France,” she said during a 2019 episode of the UnStyled podcast, recalling what led to the romance. “I had been very uninspired living in Hollywood. My plan was just to go there, do this movie, and then come back. But I fell in love with France, and then eventually I fell in love with a person.”
Ultimately, she filed for divorce after three years of marriage and moved back to New York.