I Want What They Have: Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi
Love is a many-splendored thing, especially when you’re gawking at it from the outside. In this column, we’ll be examining the celebrity couples that give us hope for our own romantic futures and trying to learn what we can from their well-documented bonds.
Okay, let’s get one thing clear; I do not wish I had gotten engaged at 19, as Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown recently did to boyfriend Jake Bongiovi, but that’s mainly because my pool of suitors at the time was pretty much limited to whoever hadn’t paired off yet at the frat party and wasn’t giving active “I will murder you, and there will eventually be a gripping campus documentary about your death” vibes. That said, young love is real, and that’s what Brown and Bongiovi appear to have found, if their extremely sweet engagement Instagram is any indication:
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“I’ve loved you three summers now, honey, I want ’em all,” Brown captioned the image, leading me to believe that (1) she’s a Taylor Swift fan, and (2) she’s been with her paramour since she was 16—which, I have to admit, is pretty cute. Sure, it’s easy to roll your eyes at teens in love (believe me, I do it all the time on the subway), but there’s also something quaint about ending up with your high school sweetheart, especially if you, like Brown, are an internationally famous actress who’s packed a lot of life into her just shy of two decades on Earth.
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Brown told Wired last year that she met Bongiovi on Instagram, recalling: “We were friends for a bit, and then…what can I say?” This appears to be how the young Hollywood set meets each other now, if Emma Chamberlain and her boyfriend, Tucker Pillsbury—who started out texting before meeting up in person—are any indication. Not that literally any member of young Hollywood asked, but I approve; it has to be easier to get to know someone via social media or text than in the greenroom of Jimmy Kimmel Live! or the bathroom of some too-expensive restaurant in West Hollywood (I’m looking at you, Horses) or wherever else two celebs might come across each other in person.
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Possibly my favorite detail of the Brown-Bongiovi courtship is the subtle nepo baby-ism of it all; Bongiovi is, of course, one of the four children of legendary rock icon Jon Bon Jovi. Bongiovi is 20, just one year older than Brown, and he’s apparently friends with her friends (mostly going by this shot of him hanging out with her Stranger Things costar Noah Schnapp), which I would call the definition of a green flag. It’s like I always say: Pick someone who likes the people you like and vice versa. You won’t regret it (unless your friends suck, I guess). Mazel, you crazy kids!