Wayne Gretzky and Janet Jones Gretzky celebrate 36 years of marriage: What to know about the couple and their family
The Canadian NHL legend and his wife tied the knot in 1988, and they share five children between each other.
Wayne Gretzky and Janet Jones Gretzky are celebrating another year of their never-ending love. The wife of the Canadian NHL legend took to social media on Wednesday with an Instagram Reel to commemorate the couple's 36th anniversary.
In the video, Jones Gretzky included several sweet photos of her and her husband over the years. The clip began with a few photos from their wedding in 1988, followed by old issues of Maclean's and Fit Pregnancy where they graced the covers of the magazines. She also added a few candid photos of herself and Gretzky, some from when they were younger and a few taken more recently.
"Thirty-six years strong! We are so blessed with five children, five grandchildren, our health, their health, our family and our friends. We love you all and let's keep on dancing! I love you, Wayne. Happy anniversary!" Jones Gretzky captioned her post, including white heart, prayer hands and American flag emojis.
In the comments section of the post, hundreds of people expressed their happiness for the couple's milestone.
"Happy anniversary, Janet and Wayne! We love you!" Amy Baier, wife of Fox News anchor Bret Baier, commented.
"My favourite couple. Congratulations," one person added.
"Doesn't seem that long ago! Wow! Huge congrats on the amazing family you've created!" someone else replied.
"Happy anniversary, guys. I know there'll be many more to celebrate. Wherever you are, have fun," someone chimed in.
According to Sportskeeda, the couple met back in 1984 when Gretzky was a judge on "Dance Fever" and Jones Gretzky was a dancer. A year later, she got engaged to American tennis player Vitas Gerulaitis and Gretzky was engaged to Edmonton singer Vikki Moss. However, neither relationship panned out.
Eventually, Gretzky and Jones Gretzky met again at a basketball game in Los Angeles. Shortly after, the duo began dating, and six months later, Gretzky decided to propose to Jones Gretzky in an unconventional way.
"We were in Edmonton together and she was going to do this workout video, and she was going to be gone or five or six weeks," he recalled during a 2016 interview with Graham Bensinger. "It was just one of those things when you're chatting on the phone, basically it was, 'Why don't we get married?' We just said 'why wait?' and we did it over the phone."
On July 16, 1988, they got married at St. Joseph's Basilica in Edmonton, where 700 relatives and friends had been invited. The Saturday afternoon event was billed as "Canada's royal wedding," and thousands of people turned out in hopes of catching a glimpse of the young couple. UPI reported a day before the ceremony that Jones Gretzky wore a $32,000 silk wedding gown, and Gretzky gifted her a cream $200,000 Rolls-Royce convertible.
Since then, Gretzky and Jones Gretzky — both of whom are now 63 years old — welcomed five kids. Below, learn more about the long-time couple's children, and see what paths they've decided to take in life.
Paulina Gretzky, 35
The eldest out of the five kids, Paulina Mary Jean Gretzky was born on Dec. 19, 1988. Like her mother, Paulina took up acting, where she starred in films like like Fame (2009), Grown Ups 2 (2013) and Guns, Girls and Gambling (2012).
But on top of a film career, she's spent time modelling and growing a large social media following, where she boasts more than one million followers on Instagram. Singing and song-writing, however, was always one of her biggest passions.
In a 2012 interview with Complex, she shared she studied opera at Michigan's Interlochen Center for the Arts. Paulina also added the music she had been working on at the time was "very pop mainstream," a shift from her original goal of emulating singers like Avril Lavigne and Gwen Stefani.
In 2009, Paulina met her now-husband, six-time World Golf Champion Dustin Johnson. The pair only began dating in 2013, and ended up getting engaged seven months later. On April 23, 2022, they tied the knot in Tennessee. The couple have two sons together: Tatum, who was born on Jan. 19, 2015, and River Jones, who was born on June 12, 2017.
Last year, Paulina spoke to KIND Magazine about how her parents influenced her relationship with Johnson: "The way he [Wayne] loves my mom and respects her is a huge part of everything and not just for me, but for all of us kids," Paulina told the Canadian lifestyle magazine. "It's the same way my dad is with Dustin and how he is with all his grandkids. Both of my parents set an amazing example and it comes down to paying attention and treating each other kindly."
Ty Gretzky, 34
The eldest Gretzky son, Ty, was born on July 9, 1990, and has since kept a relatively low profile compared to his siblings. But, like his dad, hockey became a large part of his life — and it was something the father-son duo bonded over.
"He was my hockey guy. He loves hockey," Wayne shared on a 2021 episode of "The Steam Room" podcast. "We do hockey camps all over North America. He is one of my best friends and I love it."
In 2014, they both founded The Gretzky Hockey School, which trains youth athletes using the "same foundation and habits implemented by Grandpa Walter teaching Wayne and the kids growing up," according to its website.
On Feb. 29, 2020, Ty married his wife, Sara Cusick, in a modern Gatsby-style wedding in Brooklyn. The following October, the couple welcomed their first child, daughter Sicily Marie. In May 2023, they welcomed their second daughter, Vienna Leone.
Trevor Gretzky, 31
Wayne and Janet welcomed their second son, Trevor, on Sept. 14, 1992. Like his siblings, he took a liking to sports and eventually signed with the Chicago Cubs in 2011, playing for the baseball team's minor league as well as the Los Angeles Angels.
Back then, having a professional athlete as a dad certainly helped with his own career. In 2015, Trevor explained to the Associated Press that his father "knows a lot about baseball" and taught him "pretty much everything I know about the game."
In 2016, Trevor decided to opt out of the sports world in exchange for show business. Based in Los Angeles, the actor and producer has worked on films like "Mile 22," "Apex" and "American Siege."
Trevor confirmed his engagement to Ashley Malinchak in 2023. In April of that year, he shared a video on Instagram of his proposal, where he got down on one knee amongst both of their families. The couple welcomed their daughter, Phoenix Shiloh, that same year.
Tristan Gretzky, 23
Wayne retired on April 18, 1999, and less than a year later on Aug. 2, 2000, he and Janet welcomed their third son, Tristan. While his siblings took up sports like hockey and baseball, Tristan opted to become a golfer, where he played on the Pepperdine University men's team while studying at the school. At the time, he said "my life goal is to be on the PGA Tour" and he was "looking forward to spending the next couple of years grinding" with the school's other players and coaches.
However, Tristan eventually transferred to New York University, where he said he picked the school because of the "unlimited opportunities in the city while being able to compete in the sport I love with an amazing golf coach leading the team."
Tristan also took up a bit of acting like his mother and older brother Trevor. He starred in the 2006 film "Two Tickets to Paradise," alongside "How I Met Your Mother" actress Ashley Williams and "General Hospital" actor Ryan Paevey.
Emma Gretzky, 21
The youngest of the Gretzky siblings, Emma, was born on March 28, 2003. She's currently a student at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where she's part of the school's tennis team.
In 2019, Wayne told the Ventura County Star his youngest daughter started the sport a bit late, picking it up at age 12 and a half. However, he noted that was fine since training to become an athlete is "a marathon, not a sprint."
"If you enjoy it, and work hard, and continue to progress, good things can happen," he added. "For us, as parents, our goal for Emma is to love it and keep working hard at it, because it's a huge commitment. Tennis is three, four, five hours a day of cardio. It's a little bit different and unique."
Emma regularly posts on Instagram, where she boasts more than 25,000 followers. She has also been in a relationship with SMU football player Stone Eby for more than a year. Like her family, she's also dabbled in acting, where she starred in the 2013 thriller "Palo Alto," featuring James Franco and Emma Roberts.
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