Jerry O’Connell will never forget the words his mom, Linda O’Connell, shared with him hours before his wedding to Rebecca Romijn.
“I do have to say the day I got married, I stayed with my parents because my wife stayed with her family and we didn’t see each other until at the altar,” Jerry, 52, recalled on the Friday, May 8, episode of Live With Kelly and Mark. “We did get into the car on the way to the wedding, and my mother was like, ‘Listen, if you feel uncomfortable about this, you don’t got to do this. I’m just saying. If you want, go to the airport. No questions. It’s OK. You sure about this? She’s a beautiful girl. She’s very nice, but are you sure about this?’”
When the actor made it clear that his mother loves “everything” about Romijn, 53, Linda replied, “I do.”
Jerry and Romijn met in the fall of 2004 and got engaged one year later. The couple — who share 17-year-old twins Charlie and Dolly — later got married in July 2007 during an intimate summer ceremony in Calabasas, California.
Long before her son was preparing to celebrate 20 years of marriage, Linda joked about the way she treated his past girlfriends when he was a young man.
“I would basically say, ‘I don’t like her. Kick her to the curb,’” Linda joked to hosts Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos.
Jerry confirmed the memories and said he’s shocked to see himself following the same behavior with his own daughters.
“My daughters are 17 right now, and a lot of their friends are getting very steady boyfriends. I say to them,” he began. “I sit them down and say, ‘Girls, you’ve got to play the field. You can’t just go out with you.’”
While Jerry is staying mum on how he plans to celebrate Mother’s Day with his wife, the pair have been known to stay at Linda’s house on occasion.
During the hilarious chat on Live, Linda did share one innocent gripe about whenever her son and daughter-in-law come to pay a visit.
“It’s fine, but if I’m not there and I come back home, Rebecca moves some of my furniture that she doesn’t like,” Linda claimed. “One time, she moved a 10-foot dining room table. I went to sit at it, and it was gone.”
After joking that it may be time to find a therapist after the personal interview, Jerry defended his wife by saying, “My wife likes to interior design.”
Live With Kelly and Mark airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings online.
