They started as friends and co-stars but Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster have become a bonafide celebrity couple.
The actors first crossed paths in 2003, back when Hugh was married to ex-wife Deborra-Lee Furness, but it wasn’t until 2025 when he and Sutton went public with their love.
However, after their 2026 Met Gala debut as a couple, fans and industry insiders have speculated on what this means for the secret engagement rumours that have been circulating for the pair since the end of 2025.
An insider told New Idea that the Met Gala was Hugh Jackman and his ex-wife Deborra-lee Furness’ “special date night.” The last time the pair attended the gala was 2023 and their divorce was filed four months later.
While the pair’s attendance certainly would have stung, what may be harder to swallow are the secret engagement rumours that surfaced after the pair’s Met Gala debut. While no ring was spotted on that finger, the size of Foster’s ring on the same hand has insiders and fans alike excited by the idea of their impending nuptials.
While neither Jackman or Foster have confirmed these rumours, what we know for sure is that they’re certainly smitten with each other and aren’t afraid to show this off on the red carpet.
Take a walk down memory lane with us and see how Hugh and Sutton’s love story has been years in the making.
Broadway beginnings
Hugh and Sutton’s story began backstage at a performance of Thoroughly Modern Millie where Sutton was starring as the titular Millie Dilmount.
In 2021, Sutton shared a throwback photo from that moment captioning it, “Backstage at Thoroughly Modern Millie almost 20 years ago. Millie and Wolverine. Harold and Marian. Thank you @jeremydanielphoto for the great pic!”
Five years later, the two reconnected at Shrek: The Musical on Broadway when Sutton was playing Princess Fiona. The two also posed for photos with Sutton’s co-stars John Tartaglia and Christopher Sieber who played Pinocchio and Lord Farquaad, respectively.
Sparks flying
Fast forward to 2019 and it was announced that the pair would star as Harold Hill and Marian Paroo in the Broadway revival of The Music Man and Sutton couldn’t help but gush about her leading man’s charisma.
“I’m just so excited to be in the room with him and learn from him and work with him and to be able to do this classic musical,” the actress told People Now not long after the news broke.
Though the global pandemic halted their rehearsals for 18 months, by the time opening night rolled around in February 2022, their connection was clear to see.
Sutton captioned several photos of the pair at the red carpet premiere, “This man. An honor to be by your side. You. Are. The. BEST.”
Hugh and Sutton sung each other’s praises (pun intended) with Sutton telling the Today show that she felt like “the luckiest woman in the world” performing alongside Hugh.
In his birthday message to Sutton, Hugh called her “a great friend and the best onstage partner in the world”.
The Aussie heartthrob even got the audience to sing for Sutton’s during that evening’s performance.
“Hugh Jackman is an evil, horrible, WONDERFUL human. He had the entire audience sing to me last night,” she captioned the moment on her Instagram account.
As the show continued, the pair’s bond strengthened and Sutton revealed that they spent Memorial Day 2022 together with their families.
Finding love again
In September 2023, Hugh and his wife of 27 years, Deborra-Lee Furness, announced their separation.
“We have been blessed to share almost three decades together as husband and wife in a wonderful, loving marriage. Our journey now is shifting, and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth,” they shared in a statement.
Just over a year later, Sutton filed for divorce from her husband of 10 years, Ted Griffin but in January 2025, dating rumours for Hugh and Sutton went into overdrive.
The couple were snapped in Santa Monica holding hands and later, Sutton was spotted in the audience for the opening night of Hugh’s new concert series, From New York, with Love.
However the couple didn’t make it red carpet official until October 2025 at the LA premiere of Hugh’s film, Song Sung Blue.
Hugh and Sutton rang in the new year in sunny Costa Rica where rumours of an engagement are buzzing.
The pair were spotted holding hands and getting cosy in the ocean. Now, after their recent Met Gala debut, we’ll have to watch this space for wedding bells!
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