Molly Ringwald and Husband Panio Gianopoulos’ Relationship Timeline: ‘Best Decision I Ever Made’

Credit: Andrew H Walker/Shutterstock

Molly Ringwald and Husband Panio Gianopoulos’ Relationship Timeline: 'Best Decision I Ever Made'

A romance for the decades! Molly Ringwald didn’t need to wish on 16 candles to find her true love in husband Panio Gianopoulos. The ‘80s icon and the writer might be one of Hollywood’s quieter couples, but they are certainly among the strongest. Following Ringwald’s split from ex-husband Valery Lameignère in 2002, she welcomed daughter Mathilda with Gianopoulos in 2003 before tying the knot in 2007. Two years later, the couple welcomed twins Roman and Adele. While celebrating more than 20 years of romance in February 2023, Ringwald took to Instagram with a sweet tribute to her family. “Today, the ‘getaway car’ and I are together 22 years,” she wrote at the time. “Happy anniversary to us!” She continued: “3 kids, 3 dogs, 1 cast and a lot of love. Best decision I ever made. Here’s to 22 more, at least.” When she’s not posting nostalgic throwback pics from her teenage years, Ringwald is sharing sweet photos of her kids and her spouse with fans via social media. In August 2022, the Pretty in Pink actress snapped several pics with her man while on a trip to Greece, captioning the slideshow of photos, “Our traditional trek to visit Poseidon’s temple.” She dedicated a whole post to Gianopoulos one month prior, sharing a photo of him lovingly captioned, “My dreamy Greek,” complete with a Greek flag emoji. [jwplayer SB7izwoo-zhNYySv2] Despite keeping their relationship out of the limelight, Gianopoulos previously commented on his and Ringwald’s age gap in an April 2016 interview. “I’m seven years younger than her, so of course I knew her and had a slight crush,” he told Page Six at the time. “But I was little, I was like 10. I have a big crush on her now!” After hearing her husband’s heartfelt words, Ringwald chimed in during the interview, telling Gianopoulos, “How amazing you are.” While all is well in her real-life marriage, Ringwald bid farewell to her TV husband, Luke Perry, in March 2019 when her Riverdale costar suffered a fatal stroke. “We were all really emotional and expressed it in different ways,” she told Us Weekly exclusively of the actor’s passing in November of that year. She reflected on how the loss impacted her CW family, adding, “I had my own relationship with Luke, but it was hardest watching KJ [Apa]. KJ and Luke were very close and had such a unique bond. Luke was really like his father — his American father. He really assumed that role, so watching KJ grapple with that was really tough to watch. As a mother, as just a person, it was hard to watch.” Scroll down to relive Ringwald and Gianopoulos’ sweetest relationship moments over the years.

Credit: Andrew H Walker/Shutterstock

Molly Ringwald and Husband Panio Gianopoulos’ Relationship Timeline: 'Best Decision I Ever Made'

A romance for the decades! Molly Ringwald didn’t need to wish on 16 candles to find her true love in husband Panio Gianopoulos. The ‘80s icon and the writer might be one of Hollywood’s quieter couples, but they are certainly among the strongest. Following Ringwald’s split from ex-husband Valery Lameignère in 2002, she welcomed daughter Mathilda with Gianopoulos in 2003 before tying the knot in 2007. Two years later, the couple welcomed twins Roman and Adele. While celebrating more than 20 years of romance in February 2023, Ringwald took to Instagram with a sweet tribute to her family. “Today, the ‘getaway car’ and I are together 22 years,” she wrote at the time. “Happy anniversary to us!” She continued: “3 kids, 3 dogs, 1 cast and a lot of love. Best decision I ever made. Here’s to 22 more, at least.” When she’s not posting nostalgic throwback pics from her teenage years, Ringwald is sharing sweet photos of her kids and her spouse with fans via social media. In August 2022, the Pretty in Pink actress snapped several pics with her man while on a trip to Greece, captioning the slideshow of photos, “Our traditional trek to visit Poseidon’s temple.” She dedicated a whole post to Gianopoulos one month prior, sharing a photo of him lovingly captioned, “My dreamy Greek,” complete with a Greek flag emoji. [jwplayer SB7izwoo-zhNYySv2] Despite keeping their relationship out of the limelight, Gianopoulos previously commented on his and Ringwald’s age gap in an April 2016 interview. “I’m seven years younger than her, so of course I knew her and had a slight crush,” he told Page Six at the time. “But I was little, I was like 10. I have a big crush on her now!” After hearing her husband’s heartfelt words, Ringwald chimed in during the interview, telling Gianopoulos, “How amazing you are.” While all is well in her real-life marriage, Ringwald bid farewell to her TV husband, Luke Perry, in March 2019 when her Riverdale costar suffered a fatal stroke. “We were all really emotional and expressed it in different ways,” she told Us Weekly exclusively of the actor’s passing in November of that year. She reflected on how the loss impacted her CW family, adding, “I had my own relationship with Luke, but it was hardest watching KJ [Apa]. KJ and Luke were very close and had such a unique bond. Luke was really like his father — his American father. He really assumed that role, so watching KJ grapple with that was really tough to watch. As a mother, as just a person, it was hard to watch.” Scroll down to relive Ringwald and Gianopoulos’ sweetest relationship moments over the years.

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Early 2000s

Ringwald and Gianopoulos began dating around the time of the actress’ 2002 divorce from her first husband, Valery Lameignère.

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2003

The pair welcomed their first, daughter Mathilda Ereni, in October 2003.

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2007

After several years together, the couple said “I do.”

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2009

Ringwald and the author became parents of three with the birth of their fraternal twins, Adele Georgiana and Roman Stylianos.

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2010

In her 2010 book, Getting the Pretty Back, Ringwald opened up about feeling pressure from her in-laws to name her daughter Mathilda after Gianopoulos’ mother.

“During our courtship, my husband told me about the Greek custom of naming the firstborn after the father’s parents,” the Dahmer star wrote. “Only later, when I became pregnant and found out it was a girl, came the sinking realization that I was expected to name her after my mother-in-law [Ereni].”

“Choosing a name for my child should be one of the inalienable rights of motherhood,” she noted.  “One day… I’d finally had it. I dissolved into tears and screamed out my frustration… ‘Can’t they understand it’s important to me?’”

Eventually, she came around to the idea and even recalled an instance when Mathilda introduced herself by her middle name. “At that moment, I realized the obvious,” she wrote. “Our children gain not only from the love we give them, but also from the love they get from everyone else.” 

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2016

Gianopoulos poked fun at his and Ringwald’s age gap in an interview with Page Six. “I’m seven years younger than her, so of course I knew her and had a slight crush,” he said. “But I was little, I was like 10. I have a big crush on her now!”

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2021

Ringwald went all out for her 2021 Valentine’s Day Instagram post, celebrating the romantic holiday with an adorable photo collage of her husband captioned, “21st year with this valentine. Lucky us!” She completed the post with two red heart emojis. 

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2023

The spouses celebrated 22 years as a couple in February 2023. Sharing a photo of the two of them then and now, Ringwald wrote in an Instagram post, “Today, the ‘getaway car’ and I are together 22 years! Happy anniversary to us! 3 kids, 3 dogs, 1 cat and a lot of love. Best decision I ever made. Here's to 22 more, at least.”